Dell+Avamar+Administration Participant+Guide

DELL AVAMAR ADMINISTRATION
PARTICIPANT GUIDE
PARTICIPANT GUIDE
Dell Avamar Administration-SSP
© Copyright 2023 Dell Inc Page 2

Table of Contents
Avamar Overview 8
Avamar System Components 11
Avamar Administrative and Management Interfaces 14
Avamar User Interface (AUI) Dashboard Overview 18
Avamar Processes 21
Examine Avamar Backup Client Software 25

Avamar Client Structure and Processes 25
Avamar Backup Client Software and Requirements 29
Avamar Windows Client Software Plugins 30
Avamar Database Clients 32
Desktop Laptop Clients Overview 33
Installing Avamar Windows Client Software 39
Exploring Avamar Account Management 42

Asset Management 42
Avamar Domains 43
Avamar Users and Roles 48
Creating and Editing Avamar Users 54
Creating and Editing Domains 55
Registering and Activating Avamar Clients 58
Managing Avamar Clients 66
Managing Directory Services 67
Avamar Client Manager 71
Managing Avamar Backups 77

Avamar Backups 77
Avamar Policies 78
Avamar Schedules 82
Allowing Overtime Option 86
Avamar Retentions 88

Creating a Dataset 92
Managing Backups 94
Avamar Backup and Maintenance Windows 98
Examine Avamar and PowerProtect DD Integration 100

Avamar Integration with PowerProtect DD Overview 100
PowerProtect DD Integration Features 101
Types of PowerProtect DD Configurations with an Avamar Environment 103
Back Up Processes for PowerProtect DD with Avamar 105
Adding and Deleting a PowerProtect DD System to Avamar 106
Restoring from PowerProtect DD with Avamar 108
Impacts of Avamar Maintenance Activities on PowerProtect Data Domain 109
Upgrading PowerProtect DD Integrated with Avamar 110
Managing Avamar Restores 112

Types of Avamar Restores 112
Operating System Server Recovery Solutions 114
Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) Recovery Pre-Requisites 115
Avamar Bare Metal Recovery Wizard 116
Windows Full System Backup 118
Exploring VMware Backups and Restores 121

Avamar Guest Backup Overview 121
Avamar Image Backup Overview 122
VMware Image Backup Process 128
VMware Image Backup Configuration 129
Autodiscovery of Virtual Machines 132
Virtual Machine Restore Overview 134
File-Level Restore Process Overview 135
Instant Access - PowerProtect DD 136
Managing Avamar Replication 138

Avamar Replication Overview 138
Replication Types 139

Avamar to PowerProtect DD Replication 141
PowerProtect DD Appliance Destination Settings 142
Replication Destination 145
Setting Up Replication Policies and Schedules 147
How to Perform and Monitor On-Demand Replication 149
Avamar Data Migration Enabler (ADMe) 150
Exploring Cloud Tier with Avamar 153

Cloud Tier Overview 153
Cloud Tier Configuration 153
Recalling Backups from the Cloud Tier 157
File Level Restore for Cloud Tier 158
Examine System Maintenance and Monitoring 160

Avamar Profiles 160
Creating a Custom Event Profile - Sequencing Activity 162
Event Management in the AUI 162
Avamar Email Home/ConnectEMC 163
Avamar Checkpoints 165
Rolling Back a Checkpoint 169
Avamar Monitoring 172
Backup and Maintenance Windows 178
Impacts of Maintenance Activities and Backups 182
Impacts of Maintenance Activities on PowerProtect DD 183
Analyze Avamar Capacity 185

Avamar Server Capacity Definitions 185
Avamar Server Lifecycle 188
Using the capacity.sh Utility 188
Monitoring Capacity with Integrated PowerProtect DD 190
High Capacity on Integrated PowerProtect DD 191
Explore Avamar Reporting Tools 193

Avamar Fitness Analyzer Overview 193

Fitness Analyzer Overview and Header 194
Fitness Analyzer Reports 196
Fitness Analyzer Summaries 198
Running Report with Avamar Administrator 201
Using Third-Party Reporting Tools with Avamar Administrator 203
Examine Troubleshooting and Logs 209

Challenges When Managing Backups 209
Managing Backups Successfully 209
Possible Client Initialization Issues 211
Avamar getlogs Utility 212
Client Logs 213
MCS and CRON Logs 216
Maintenance Activity Logs 217
Appendix 219
Glossary 221

Avamar Overview

Avamar Overview
Avamar Overview
What is Avamar
Avamar is a
comprehensive,
client/server backup
and restore solution
which addresses the
data protection
challenges in IT
environments. Several
components make up
the Avamar System
such as the Avamar
Server, Avamar
Client, Avamar Administrator Console, and Avamar User Interface
(AUI). A key feature of Avamar is its unique global data deduplication
technology, which ensures that data objects are only backed up once
across the backup environment.
In addition, the redundant data is identified at the source, meaning that

duplicate data is not sent over the network if it exists on the Avamar
Server. This results in a dramatic reduction in the amount of data that is
moved across the network and stored in backup storage.
Avamar Features
Avamar is a comprehensive backup and recovery solution addressing

data protection backup challenges. Avamar capabilities include:

Avamar Overview
Capability Description
Global Data deduplication is a process that looks for

Deduplication redundancy in sequences of bytes across large
comparison sets. Sequences of data are compared
to the history of other such sequences. The first
uniquely stored version of a sequence is referenced
using a metadata pointer rather than stored again,
reducing the required storage footprint. This process
is automatic during both write (when deduplication is
performed) and read (when files are rehydrated to
their full size), so each file is readable after it is
written without interruption.
Minimal Scalable server architecture or virtual appliance

Architecture architecture, flexible deployment, and no need for a
dedicated backup network.
Centralized Avamar Administrator and Avamar User Interface

Management (AUI) enable remote management and monitoring1
of Avamar servers from a centralized location over
LAN, WAN, or Internet access.
Scalable Extra storage nodes added to an Avamar multi-node

Architecture server accommodate the need for increased backup
storage requirements. Also, attaching a
PowerProtect DD appliance enables effortless
scalability. Based on the requirement, Avamar can
use dedicated, shared, or multiple PowerProtect DD
appliances.
1Avamar can also integrate with Data Protection Central for further
monitoring and management capabilities.

Avamar Overview
Flexible Options include Avamar Virtual Edition (AVE), with a

Deployment range of licensable capacities, and Avamar Data
Options Store (ADS), with scalable architecture.
Disk Storage Disk-to-disk backup offers speed, reliability, instant-

access to backups, and multilayered redundancy.
Similarly, the PowerProtect DD can be used as
primary storage when an Avamar system is
integrated with PowerProtect DD. Administrators can
also store the backup data in the cloud environment2
as well.
Data Deduplication
Data deduplication is one of the key features of an Avamar system. The

deduplication feature reduces network traffic and provides greatly
enhanced storage efficiency on the Avamar server. During the backups,
the Avamar client software examines the client files and applies a block-
level data deduplication algorithm prior to data being sent across the
network for storage.
2This can be performed only if Avamar is integrated with a PowerProtect

DD.

Avamar Overview
Variable Block Level
Variable length deduplication is a key feature in eliminating redundant

data at a subfile level. This method of deduplication is more efficient that
traditional fixed-length deduplication.
Variable length deduplication reduces backup time by only storing unique

segments of backup data, while maintaining daily full backups for
immediate, single-step image restore. Deduplication reduces the amount
of data that is sent and stored, eliminating backup bottlenecks and
reducing storage costs.
With deduplication using fixed-length segments, even small changes to a

file can more frequently trigger a backup of the entire file, whereas with
variable-length, small changes will only trigger a backup of the changed
segments of the file.
Avamar System Components
Avamar has three main system components. Optional components include

NDMP Accelerator nodes, which may be physical or virtual, depending on
requirements. An Avamar server (multinode or single node) can manage
and direct backups to up to five PowerProtect DD appliances.

Avamar Overview
Components Description
Avamar Backup Clients Clients are any systems or servers with

data to be backed up by Avamar. Physical
clients and virtual clients being backed up
via guest backup configuration
communicate directly with the Avamar
Server. Avamar Client software is installed
on physical and guest backup systems or
servers. Virtual clients being backed up via
image-based backup communicate with
the Avamar Server through an Avamar
Proxy virtual appliance. When the storage
target is a PowerProtect DD, backup data
is written directly to the PowerProtect DD,
and metadata is sent to and tracked by the
Avamar server.
Avamar Server Provides essential processes and services

that are required for client access and for
remote system administration. Two of
Avamar Server's core processes are
GSAN (data processing) and MCS
(management and configuration). The
server can be integrated with a
PowerProtect DD which acts as a storage
platform. In this case, the backup data is
stored on the PowerProtect DD and the
metadata in the Avamar Server.
Avamar Web User AUI and the Avamar Administrator are

Interface (AUI) or Avamar Avamar's primary administration interfaces.
Administrator All day-to-day configuration, monitoring,
and management tasks required to
administer an Avamar environment are
performed in the Avamar Administrator or
the AUI.

Avamar Overview
Important: Data Domain is now branded as PowerProtect

DD. References to PowerProtect DD series appliances in
this training, Avamar documentation, in the UI, and
elsewhere in product guides include references to Data
Domain or DD systems, and PowerProtect DD.

Avamar Overview
Avamar Administrative and Management Interfaces
Important: Avamar Administrator is deprecated in favor of

the Avamar Web User Interface (AUI) and will be
removed in a future release. However, some advanced
configuration tasks can still only be performed in the
Avamar Administrator.
Avamar enables central administration through remote access interfaces.

Administrators can use the any the following to administer the Avamar:
Avamar User Interface (AUI)
The AUI can monitor and configure the Avamar server, and perform
management activities.
Avamar AUI Dashboard

Avamar Overview
Avamar AUI log in screen
Avamar Administrator
Avamar Administrator is a graphical management console software

application that is used to administer an Avamar system from a supported
Windows or Linux client system. The Avamar Administrator or AUI is the
primary user interface that is used to:

Avamar Overview
Avamar Administrator
• Monitor and restore backups.

• Perform system maintenance activities.
• Configure backup policies.
Management Console Command Line Interface (MCCLI)
Management Console Command Line Interface (MCCLI) is a Java

application that provides command-line access to Avamar3 features and
functions that are available using the Avamar Administrator or the AUI.
3 This command is run on the Avamar server by using SSH connection to

the Avamar server.

Avamar Overview
MCCLI Command
Avamar Desktop Laptop
Avamar Desktop/Laptop allows the end users to restore their data without
the intervention of the backup administrator. Avamar Desktop/Laptop is a
version of the Avamar client software for Windows and Macintosh that
adds enhanced features for enterprise desktop and laptop systems. Many
of the features are also available on supported Linux systems. The
following are some of the features of Avamar Desktop/Laptop:
• Provides secure Avamar interface for end users

• No separate login is required, as the users are integrated with Active
Directory/LDAP for authentication.
• Users are allowed to perform predefined backups and restore files that
they own.
Orchestra REST API
The Orchestra REST API extends the native Avamar server REST API to
facilitate the management of multiple Avamar servers. Once Avamar is
registered with Orchestra, the API provides a single point of interface for

Avamar Overview
management operations. Orchestra obtains, holds, and supplies the

required authentication tokens on your behalf.
Avamar User Interface (AUI) Dashboard Overview
The AUI Dashboard provides an at-a-glance view of Avamar system

status. To access the AUI, open a web browser and type URL:
https://Avamar_server_address/aui, where
Avamar_server_address is the DNS name or IP address of the
Avamar server.
This is displayed when you log in to the AUI based on the user privileges4.
The AUI Dashboard is divided into sections with each section displaying
the summary information.
Click on the green boxes to get more details:
AUI Dashboard
1: The Assets | Overview panel indicates the number of Integrated and

Unprotected assets on the Avamar server.
2: The Capacity | Overview panel provides information about the

capacity usage for the Avamar server and the PowerProtect DD
appliance.
The Avamar server capacity information tab displays the amount of

available storage and used storage for the Avamar server in Gigabytes
(GB). Also, information about the percentage of total capacity that is used
is also displayed.
4 Only users with ADMIN privileges have access to the dashboard view.

Avamar Overview
If the Avamar has an integrated PowerProtect DD this also displays the

amount of available as well as used storage in GB. Also, information about
the percentage of total capacity used is also displayed.
3:
The Events | All panel displays any unacknowledged system errors and
warnings that have occurred, as well as system alerts5.
All the events are displayed6 in the list with the name, date, and the time
the event occurred.
4: The Activities | Backup panel indicates if the scheduled backups

occur at the correct time or if there is any problem that is preventing the
backups from occurring. Various color codes represent the status of the
backups.
5 The type of alerts that are displayed under the Events | All panel include
HFS check failures, Capacity warnings, and Capacity usage warnings. All
the events are categorized as Critical, Error, and Warning.
6 To display all the critical events, click View More option in the AUI. The
user must explicitly acknowledge the events to clear these serious system
errors and warnings.

Avamar Overview
• Blue: Indicates the backup has successfully completed.

• Green: Indicates the backups are in progress
• Yellow: Indicates backups have not yet started
• Red: Indicates the backup jobs that did not successfully complete or
completed with errors
5: The Activities | Replication panel indicates the replication status of

groups that are configured with replication.

Avamar Overview
• Blue: Indicates the replication jobs are completed successfully

• Green: Indicates schedule replication jobs which are in progress
• Yellow: Indicates replication jobs that are scheduled but have not yet
started
• Red: Indicates replication jobs that did not complete successfully or
completed with errors
6: The Client | Information panel displays the Avamar client information

which includes plugin type, total client count, and total protected
Gigabytes (GB).
Avamar Processes
Client Processes
The Avamar client software runs on each system being backed up on the
Avamar server. The client software consists of two main processes. These
two processes are the following:

Avamar Overview
• avagent: Runs as a service or daemon on the client. It establishes

and maintains communication with MCS on the Avamar server. The
avagent listens for incoming work orders from MCS on the Avamar
server. In response to a work order, such as a backup or a restore,
avagent spawns the avtar. The avagent listens on port 28002.
• avtar: Is the primary process for backups and restore, the avtar
communicates with the Avamar server processes on the storage
nodes. The two types of plugins are file system7 and application
plugins8.
Backup Processes Flow
During a scheduled backup the management console server (MCS) on the

Avamar Server generates a work order. The MCS pages the client
avagent process and avagent retrieves the work order. On the client,
avagent starts the avtar process to begin the backup.
7 File system plugins browse, backup, and restore files or directories on a

specific client file system, such as Windows or Linux.
8 Application plugins support backups and restores of applications and
databases, including SQL Server, Exchange, Oracle, and SAP.

Avamar Overview
Backup Process Flow
The avtar process communicates with the gsan process on the avamar
storage nodes and sends unique backup data for writing to storage. The
gsan process distributes the data across available storage nodes .
From the avagent to MCS, the client receives a work order from MCS
server. From the MCS to avagent, the MCS server pages client to push
the work order as shown here.
Server Processes and Notifications
Several processes run on Avamar server nodes. Key processes include:
Key Description
Processes
Avamar System activities and operational status are reported as

Administrator events to the administrator server. Avamar
Administration processes include MCS, EMT, MCDB and
more.

Avamar Overview
Avamar The Avamar server stores, processes, and manages

Server variable-sized chunks that the client sends during a
backup. Avamar server is also known as Global Storage
Area Network (GSAN).
The Avamar Administrator and or the AUI is responsible for two important
functions:
Functions Description
Notifications
Reporting Third-party tools and applications can be used to monitor

and report on the syslog files and SNMP traps. An
example of a third-party tool is the Dell Data Protection
Advisor (DPA).
Actions initiated by users, such as user logins, are
maintained in an audit log for the enforcement of security
policies. Avamar activities and events can also be
accessed to run preconfigured and ad hoc reports
through read-only view of the Management Console
Database.
Important: The avagent and avtar are not used for

VMware image level backups.
Go to: For more information about process and functions,

see the Dell Avamar Administration Guide on Dell
Support.

Examine Avamar Backup Client Software
Avamar Client Structure and Processes
Launching Avamar Windows Client Interface
Once the avscc process launches automatically, the Avamar Client

applet is placed in the Windows System Tray.
If the icon is not visible from the Windows System Tray, administrators can
start the avscc by searching for the Avamar client application in the
Windows Start menu.

Avamar Client activity status
For Viewing Activity Status, right-click the Avamar

client icon. Then click on Manage and click
View Console.
Avamar client menu

options
For client-initiated
backups, right-click
the Avamar client icon
for client initiated
backup and restores.
Similarly, click Back
Up Now option to
open the Avamar
Desktop/Laptop
interface.

Avamar Client Directory Structure
On an Avamar Windows client, the Avamar binaries, utilities, and log files
are in C:\Program Files\avs by default.
avs folder
• bin: Binaries and scripts

• etc: Configuration files
• var: Logs for the Avamar client processes: avscc, avagent, and
avtar
On an Avamar Linux or MAC client, the Avamar client files are located in
/usr/local/avamar/clientlogs by default. The Agent logs are
located in /var/avamar.
Avamar Client Processes
While performing a Windows client installation, the avagent and avscc

are started automatically.
Verify that the services are running and this will show Backup Agent in the
Services window as shown.

Task Manager
Component Services
Lab Exercise: For more practice, go to the Avamar

Administration Lab.

Tip: Use the Windows Services application to start, stop, or

restart backup agent.
Avamar Backup Client Software and Requirements
Avamar Backup Client Software
Avamar offers client software and backup appliances for various

computing platforms. Each Avamar client configuration includes a client
agent and one or more plug-ins or a backup appliance which hosts the
client agent and plugins.
Avamar backup clients are the following:
• File- No additional plug-in needed.

• Database or Database application- Requires specific plug-ins.
• VMware Machine Image- Requires a proxy.
• VMware Guest backup- VM is treated like a physical host for filesystem
or database backups.
• NAS backups (NDMP Accelerator clients): Requires the NDMP
accelerator.
Backup Client System Requirements
The following requirements must be reviewed before installing an Avamar

client software:

Example of ping and nslookup
• System requirements include operating system, file system, memory,

hard drive space, network interface, and browser support.
• The client on the same network as Avamar server.
− Use the following commands to get the network status of the

Avamar server:
o C:\> ping <avamar server hostname>
o C:\> nslookup
Important: See the E-Lab Navigator for a list of supported

clients.
Avamar Windows Client Software Plugins
With the installation of client software on a Windows machine, notice three

plugins appear for the client in the AUI and Avamar Administrator.

These three plugins are in the Windows client installation and each have
different purposes.
• Windows File System: Used to perform backups and restores of file

system data. It allows backup and restore of individual files.
• Windows VSS: Backs up the entire system state and any critical disks.
This type of backup is used for bare-metal recoveries. The Windows
VSS9 also creates a snapshots to provide a consistent point-in-time
copy of the volume. Administrators can select this plugin to perform full
system backups.
• Windows Update: This plugin is not used for backups or restores, but for
push upgrades from Client Manager. It allows an administrator to
remotely update Avamar client software on the client machine. This
should not select this plugin when performing any backups.
AUI Plugin Details
9VSS is used during the backup to handle the backup of open files. You
can select the VSS plug-in when performing regular file system backups.

Tip: For more details on Windows clients, see the Dell

Avamar Windows Servers Guide on Dell Support.
Important: Applications should be backed up using the

appropriate plugin (SQL plugin for SQL, MOSS plugin for
SharePoint, Exchange plugin for Exchange). These
plugins use the corresponding VSS writer. This ensures
that the data is in a consistent state before being backed
up.

Administration Lab.
Avamar Database Clients
Avamar database clients are specialized client software for backing up

and restoring databases. The software allows the users to choose
between different configurations depending on the placement and the type
of agent.
The following activities take place when the Avamar client and the Avamar
database client are installed on the database server:
• The installation requires the Avamar client software and the Avamar
client plugin for the appropriate database type.
• During a backup, the Avamar database clients communicate with the
database API or backup utility, and pass data to be backed up by
avtar. The avtar process then sends the data to the Avamar server.

If the Avamar has an integrated PowerProtect DD, the data goes to the
PowerProtect DD, and metadata is stored on the Avamar server.
Desktop Laptop Clients Overview
Avamar Desktop/Laptop (DTLT) is a version of the Avamar client software

for Windows and Macintosh that adds enhanced features for enterprise
desktop and laptop systems. Many of these features are also available
from a browser and the Avamar client web UI on supported Linux
systems.
Clients can be organized by using Avamar domains. These domains offer

a more secure environment by enabling the administrator to define user
accounts based on domain basis. Before any client can backup or restore,
the clients must be registered or activated with an Avamar server.
Desktop/Laptop Features
Client Installation Administrators can install the client on Windows and

and Mac desktop and laptop systems by using systems
Management management tools.
After client installation, administrators can activate,
upgrade, analyze, and manage clients by using the
Avamar Client Manager UI.

User Avamar Desktop/Laptop authenticates with pass-

Authentication through authentication10 with either enterprise Active
Directory, OpenLDAP-compliant directory service,
built-in Avamar authentication, or a combination of
Avamar authentication and LDAP authentication.
User Interfaces Avamar Desktop/Laptop functionality is available

through the client local user interface (client UI) and
AUI. With the client UI, an Avamar icon appears in
the notification area, or system tray, or on Windows
systems or on the menu bar on Mac systems. Users
can right-click the icon on Windows or click the icon
on Mac to open the client menu, which provides
access to backup and restore, program settings, and
logs.
Backup Users can start an on-demand backup with a single

click on the client menu, or open the AUI for an
interactive on-demand backup. Administrators can
also perform scheduled backups11 of all the Avamar
Desktop/Laptop clients.
Restore Users can search for or browse to folders, files, and

file versions to either the original location or to a new
location on the same system. Users can restore data
with the same name or a new name.
10 Pass-through authentication also enables administrators to allow non-

domain users to restore files to their local account on the computer. This
enables users to access the Avamar client web UI (this is not the AUI)
without using the login screen.
11 Backups should be scheduled to run during the day when end users are
connected to the network.

Activity History The History page in the web UI provides a 14-day

history of the status of restore and backup tasks for
a client system. Also, it provides the listing of the
folders and files that are backed up during that
period.
Desktop/Laptop User Interface
Desktop/Laptop User Interface
• Avamar Desktop/Laptop software must be installed on applicable clients.

− The Client User Interface optional component should be selected
during the installation of the Avamar client software on the client
machine.
• Interface is available in 14 languages
− These are automatic and appear in the local operating system. End
users can switch to any of the supported locals.
• Interface can be rebranded by replacing the logo graphic.
− Launched using system tray icon by clicking Back Up Now.

Desktop/Laptop Backups
Avamar Desktop/Laptop provides several methods for starting a client

backup.
The following table describes the methods for starting a client backup:
Schedule Performed the

d same way that
Backups administrators
back up other
Avamar client
systems in the
environment.
Users see the
groups that are
associated
with an
Avamar
Desktop/Lapto
p client on the
Backup page in
the Avamar
Desktop/Laptop
UI. The next
Desktop/Laptop Scheduled Backups
scheduled
backup time
for each group
that is
associated
with an
Avamar
Desktop/Lapto
p client also
appears on the
Backup page.

Single- Users can start an

click on-demand
backup on an
Avamar
Desktop/Laptop
client system by a
single-click on the
Back Up Now
button on the
client menu.
Desktop/Laptop Back Up Now

Interac Interactive
tive backups allow
users to select a
backup group that
is associated with
the client and
back up the client
by using the
group's settings.
When on-demand
backup sets are
enabled,
interactive
backups also
allow users to
choose instead to Desktop/Laptop Interactive
back up only
selected files and
folders.
Desktop/Laptop Restores
Avamar Desktop/Laptop users can use the UI to either browse to or

search for folders, files, and file versions to restore.
Restore
Avamar Desktop/Laptop users can restore data to:

• Original location
• New location
Important: Before performing backups of Desktop/Laptop

clients, first define a backup policy. See the Dell Avamar
Administration Guide on Dell Support for more details on
Desktop/Laptop.
Tip: If the backup environment contains both

Desktop/Laptop users that must backup during the day,
and servers that backup during the night, it may be
necessary to have separate Avamar servers for
Desktop/Laptop clients and for servers to allow for Avamar
maintenance activities to complete.
Installing Avamar Windows Client Software
The Avamar Client for Windows includes the agent, Windows File System
plugin, and the Windows VSS plugin. The Windows File System plugin
enables backups and restores of the file system data on a stand-alone
Windows system or on a share storage in a Windows Cluster.

Avamar Web Restore
Download the Windows client using a web browser by navigating to the

Avamar Web Restore page https://<avamar server hostname>.
Avamar clients are found under Downloads.
During the installation, administrators are asked to provide server

information. This information is used to activate the current client with an
Avamar server. Activating the client enables the client to perform backup
and restore to that server. Users can either activate the client to a server
at the time of installation or later.
Avamar for Windows Setup

Tip: For more details on Avamar Clients for Windows, see

Dell Avamar for Windows Servers Users Guide on Dell
Support.
Lab Exercise: For more practice, use the Avamar

Administration Lab.

Exploring Avamar Account Management
Asset Management
Administrators can perform various account management tasks from the

Asset Management window.
The Asset Management tasks are as follows:
Tasks
Create, edit, The user must be logged into the root domain with
and delete the Administrator privilege.
domains.
Create, edit, The user must be logged into a domain with the
and delete Administrator privilege.
users.
Create, edit, The user must be logged into a domain with the
and delete Administrator privilege.
clients.
Move clients to The user must be logged into a domain with the
a different Administrator privilege.
domain.
Tip: All these Asset Management tasks can be performed in

the Avamar Administrator as well.


Administration Lab.
Avamar Domains
Avamar client domains are distinct zones that are used to organize and
separate backup clients for administrative purposes. The server provides
enhanced security by enabling administrators to define administrative user
accounts on a domain-by-domain basis.
Avamar client domains are internal to the Avamar server and have nothing
to do with Internet or Active Directory domains.
Tip: Domain names are case sensitive.

Avamar Domains
Administrators can nest

domains to create a rich
tree structure. This
structure allows the
administrator to set
privileges to a specific level
on the client tree. These
domain-level
administrators can then
manage the clients and
policies within that domain.
Default and Special

Domains
Avamar has the following

default and special
domains:
Example of Domain structure

MC_RETIRED and MC_SYSTEM domain
REPLICATE Contains
replicated
data from
other Avamar
servers. This
domain is
created once
the server
receives
replication
data.

MC_RETIRED Holds clients

that have
been retired
which means
they are no
longer being
backed up.
The backups
can still be
used for
recovering
files until
backups
expire.
clients The default

domain that
comes
preconfigured
on the
Avamar
server. It can
be used for
the backup
clients. If a
domain is not
specified
during
activation of
client, by
default it
resides in
/clients
domain.

MC_SYSTEM Holds the

backups of
the Avamar
Server
databases.
Since
replication
uses client
software that
is installed on
the Avamar
server, the
Avamar
server itself
must appear
in the tree.
This domain
serves as a
container for
this client.
Avamar Domain Tree Structure
In Avamar, the domain hierarchy in an AUI is depicted in the form of a tree

structure.
The root domain is represented with the following:

 Forward slash / in the AUI.

 Avamar server name in Avamar Administrator
The domain tree can expand to view subdomains and clients that are
assigned to the domain as shown below:
Best Practice: Dell Technologies recommends retiring a

client as opposed to deleting a client to preserve backups for
future use.
Go to: For more detailed information, see Avamar

Operational Best Practices on Dell Support website.

Administration Lab.
Important: Users or administrators cannot delete the

MC_SYSTEM, MC_RETIRED, and REPLICATE domains.
Avamar Users and Roles
The user accounts help define the authentication that is used to grant a
user access to the Avamar system and define the role for each user.

Important: All usernames that are created inside Avamar,

including those for preconfigured user accounts, are case-
sensitive. The case-sensitive formatting differs from
Active Directory user accounts, as Active Directory
usernames are not case-sensitive.
Avamar Users
Security in Avamar is implemented with the help of user accounts. Users

are added to the following:
• Domains for administering the domain and any sub domains within the
domain
• Individual clients to perform backup and restore of client data
The privileges that are assigned to a user determine the tasks that the
user can perform in AUI. Also, the privileges determine the ability of the
user to initiate backups and restores.
Preconfigured User Accounts
Avamar provides several preconfigured12 user accounts at the root domain

level which include the following:
Preconfigured Description
Users
MCUser Used to administer the Avamar server at the root

domain level.
12 Preconfigured user accounts are case-sensitive.

repluser An account for replication between two Avamar

systems.
root An Administrator role.
backuprestore Only used as Backup/Restore user role.
backuponly A user role can only run backups.
restoreonly A user role can only run Restore (Read).
Avamar Roles
Roles define the allowable operations for each user account. The following
are the three categories for user roles:
Roles Description
Administrator Can perform administrator13 tasks, backups, and

restores with their domain and any subdomains.
13 A root level administrator has full control of the Avamar system.

Operator The users with operator role have access to the

specific Avamar Administrator features they are entitled
to use based on their assigned role such as:
• Restore only operator: Perform and monitor restores
only.
• Backup only operator: Perform backups and monitor
only those activities.
• Backup/Restore operator: Initiate backups and
restores, and can monitor those activities.
• Replication User: The default replication user account
on the Avamar server
• Activity operator: Monitors the backup and restore
activities, and create reports.

User These users cannot log in to the Avamar server. These

user roles are:
• Backup Only Users: Initiate backups from the client
using the avtar CLI command.
• Restore (Read) Only User: Initiate restores directly from
the client.
• Backup/Restore User: Initiate backups and restores
from the client.
• Restore (Read) Only/Ignore File Permissions: Similar to
the Restore (Read) Only User role except that
operating system file permissions are ignored
during restores. This user is allowed to restore any
file that is stored for an Avamar client.
− Windows client user accounts should be

assigned this role only when both of the
following are true:
o Users are authenticated using Avamar
internal authentication.
o Users do not require access to the Avamar
client UI.
Avamar Users In Domain Hierarchy
The level at which a user account is added to the Avamar system and the
role that is assigned to the user determine the access and privileges that
are assigned to that user.
These privileges are the following:

User Roles Description
Root Administrator Role Root users are created at the root

Operator Role: domain, represented by the Avamar
• Restore Only server in the domain tree. Root users
Operator can perform tasks for all domains in
the hierarchy and the clients within the
• Backup Only
domains.
Operator
• Backup/Restore
Operator
• Activity
Operator
Domain Administrator Role Domain users are created at the

Operator Role: Avamar domain level. Users at the
• Restore Only domain level can perform tasks for that
Operator domain, the clients assigned to the
domain, and any domain or client
• Backup Only
beneath the domain in the domain
Operator
hierarchy.
• Backup/Restore
Operator
• Activity
Operator
Client User Role: Client users are created for an

• Restore (Read) individual Avamar client. The tasks a
Only client user can perform are limited to
that specific client.
• Backup Only
User
• Backup/Restore
user

Lab Exercise: For more practice go to the Avamar

Administration Lab.
Creating and Editing Avamar Users
The AUI and Administrator allows users to easily perform ADD, EDIT, or
DELETE a domain tasks as shown below:
Important: Avamar usernames are case-sensitive and

must be 31 characters or less, and cannot contain special
characters. The passwords are case-sensitive and must
be 6 to 31 characters in length, and cannot contain any
special characters.
Create a User
To create a new user, perform the following:
• From the AUI navigation pane, click >> and click on Setting.
• In the Setting pane, click the User tab.
• Select a domain for the new user and click +ADD.
• From the User Management window, select an authentication system.
The Authentication System list appears in a disabled state, with Axion
Authentication System (the internal system) that is selected. This step
indicates that the ability to select an enterprise authentication system is
not currently enabled.
• Enter the usernames and password, and select a role for the new user
from the list.
• Click OK to create the user.

Edit a User
To edit a user, perform the following:
• From the AU navigation pane, click >> and click on Setting.

• Click the User tab, and select the user from the domain.
• To change the role for the user, click Edit, and select a role that is
needed for the change and click OK.
• To change the password for the user, click Edit Password and enter the
new password.
• Click OK to finalize the changes.
Delete a User
To delete a user, perform the following:
• From the AUI navigation pane, click >> and click Setting.
• In the Setting pane, click the User tab.
• In the domain tree, select the domain and respective user and click the
DELETE button.
• Click YES to confirm the deletion of user.

Administration Lab.
Creating and Editing Domains
Administrators or other users may need to add additional domains to their

tree or change the name of a specific domain.
The AUI and Administrator allows users to easily create, edit, or delete a
domain task as shown below:

Important: Domain names cannot be modified once the

domain has been created.
Warning: To preserve the clients and their backups in the

system, move the clients to a new domain before
performing a deletion of a Domain or client. Deleting
users will not affect the backups.
Create a Domain
To add a new domain into the Avamar, perform the following:
Create a Domain
• Click Asset Management.

• Select a location in the Domain tree, the click the + icon.

• Enter the name of the new domain and fill out optional areas as
needed.
• Click OK to create the new domain.
Edit a Domain
To edit an existing domain in the Avamar, perform the following:
Edit a Domain

• Select the domain to be edited, and click the overflow button next to
the domain name and select Edit Domain.
• Edit the information as needed and click OK. In this example we added
a Contact and Location.
Delete a Domain
To delete an existing domain in the Avamar, perform the following:

Delete a Domain

• Select the domain to be deleted, click the overflow button next to the
domain name, and then select Edit Domain.
• Click YES to confirm the deletion of the domain.

Administration Lab.
Registering and Activating Avamar Clients
Registering Avamar Client
The Avamar client needs to be registered and activated with an Avamar

server before performing any backup or restores. Registering an Avamar
client establishes an identity with the Avamar server. Once Avamar knows
the client, activation can occur that assigns a unique client ID (CID), which
passes back to the client during activation. A client can be registered on
more than one Avamar server but can only be activated on one Avamar
server at a time.

There are multiple ways to register the Avamar client:
Client-side With Client-side registration and activation, the

registration registration is initiated from the client which may have
already been done during the client software installation
process. If not, registering after installing the client
software is also allowed. In Windows, the installer can
initiate registration by right-clicking the Avamar client
(avscc) tray icon and choosing Manage > Activate Client. In
Linux and UNIX, administrators may run the
avregister command that is located in the Avamar
software bin directory.
Server-side Server-side registration of an Avamar client can be done

registration using AUI and Avamar Administrator. In this way,
administrators can add the client to an Avamar system in
the intended domain.
Batch client Batch client registration can be performed with the

registration Avamar Client Manager. This registration defines
multiple clients using a single client definition file. The file
then gets imported to the Avamar server to register them.
Client Avamar Client Manager is a centralized interface that

Manager allows administrators to perform client management
tasks for multiple Avamar Servers, including client
registration and activation.
Adding an Avamar Client
The following steps are used to register a client with the AUI:

Add a Client
1. Once logged in to the AUI, click on Asset Management and then click
ADD CLIENT.
2. In the New Client page, select the Client Type, enter the new client
name, and click NEXT.
3. Review the client information in the Finish page, click ADD.
Avamar Server-Side Client Activation
Once a client has been registered with an Avamar server, Avamar

administrators can activate the client14 with the Invite client option in
either the AUI or Avamar Administrator.
The steps to invite a client are the following:
14In order for activation to succeed, the client must be present on the
network. Then client software must be installed and running, and the
Avamar server must be able to resolve the hostname that is used to
register the client.

Inviting a client
AUI To activate a client using AUI, select the client under a

domain and click MORE ACTIONS > Invite Client.
Avamar To activate a client using Avamar Administrator, after the

Administrator client is added to a domain, select the client and choose
Actions > Account Management > Invite Client.
Client-Side Activation for Windows and Linux Clients
During the activation of a Windows or Linux/Unix client, the domain exist

and the capitalization must be matching to ensure that the activation of
client is completed successfully.
In Windows, with the client software is installed, activate the client by right-
clicking the Avamar client (avscc) tray icon and choosing Manage > Activate.

Avamar Client Activation with Windows Client
In Linux and UNIX, the client registration process using the avregister
command also activates the client.
Avamar Linux Client Activation
Client ID and Activation
During the activation process, the Avamar server passes the client ID
(CID) to the client. The client ID is stored in an encrypted file on the client
file system.
A client can only be activated to one Avamar server at a time. To move a

client from one Avamar server to another, follow the steps below in the
Avamar Client Manager:

Avamar Client ID and Activation Status

1. On the left-side menu, click Clients > Activated Clients.

2. Select a client. Do not select an NDMP client. Do not select a client
that has backups on a Data Domain server.
3. On the Actions bar, click Move. The Domain Selection pane of the
Client Move dialog box appears.
4. At the top of the Domain Selection pane, from the server selection
list, select the Avamar server that is the target of the move. The
target server's domains appear in the Domain Selection pane.
5. In the Domain Selection pane, select the target domain. Click
NEXT.
6. The Group Selection pane of the Client Move dialog box appears.
Select a target group. Users can optionally select more than one
target group. Avamar Client Manager adds the client to all selected
groups.
7. In Replicate Existing Backups at the bottom of the Group
Selection pane, select a value:
a. All - Replicate all the client's backups to the target server
b. Last - Replicate only the last backup
c. None - Replicate none of the backups.
8. Optional: In Delete From Source:
a. Select to remove all the client's backups from the source server.
b. Clear to move the source server's registration of the client to the
source server's MC_RETIRED domain and retain copies of the
client's backups on the source server.
9. Click FINISH.
The details of the client can be viewed in the VIEW MORE option after
selecting the client.

Disabling Client
Administrators can disable a client backup from the AUI. When a client is
disabled, it cannot use the Avamar server to backup any data.
Once the client is disabled, no backups, restores, replication, or cloud tier

operations can be initiated.
Disable a Client
Shown here are the steps to disable the client in the AUI:
1. Select a client in the registered domain.

2. Click MORE ACTIONS, and click Edit Client.
3. Clear the Enabled box, and click UPDATE. This change reflects a
false value under the Enabled column.
Important: Before inviting and or activating a client, the

client must be added to a specific domain on the Avamar
server. Administrators can register a client to two Avamar
servers, but only activate on one Avamar server.


Administration Lab.
Managing Avamar Clients
Administrators can perform additional tasks with clients from the AUI.
The following tasks can be performed on a client:
Management tasks
Edit Used to change the client name and optional descriptive

Client information. It also allows the administrator to enable, activate,
and initiate any client backups.
Move Used to move a client to another domain.

Client

Retire Retired clients do not participate in regular backups; however,

Client previous backups are still maintained and files can be restored
using a directed restore. All retired clients15 are moved to the
MC_RETIRED domain.
Delete This permanently deletes all backups that are stored that are
Client for the client being deleted. If there is any chance that an
administrator needs to restore data from this client, retire the
client instead.
Invite Used to activate a client.

Client

Administration Lab.
Best Practice: Retire a client instead of deleting it so that

administrators still have the capability of performing restores.
Managing Directory Services
An Avamar server must be configured first to authenticate with the

directory service in order to use a directory service authentication.
15 If the client has been replicated to another Avamar server, users at any
time can change the retention times of the replicated backups.

Use directory service authentication to authenticate and assign roles to

Avamar users by using information from an existing directory service.
Directory service16 authentication works with specific LDAP directory
services and provides additional functionality when used with an
OpenLDAP directory service.
The following Avamar products use directory service to authenticate and

authorize users:
• Avamar Administrator
• Avamar Web Restore
• Avamar Client Web UI (Desktop/Laptop)
• Avamar Web User Interface (AUI)

Administration Lab.
Managing Directory Services
The Avamar server needs to be configured to authenticate with the

directory server.
Some important things to consider with directory service authentication

are the following:
• Can be configured from the Administration interface in Avamar

Administrator.
16Directory service authentication also works with a Network. Information

Service (NIS) on its own or with one of the supported LDAP directory
services.

• Edits the necessary LDAP and Kerberos configuration files to allow

authentication
• NIS authentication is also supported.
Add Directory Service
From the Account Management tab, select LDAP Maps. Click Actions
and choose New LDAP Map. Fill out the options in the New LDAP Map
dialog box. Click OK.

Create an LDAP Group
Avamar Administrator Create LDAP Group
In order to allow an LDAP access, first create a user group. Administrators

may have to create multiple groups to grant access to different Avamar
domains or different roles depending on the requirements.
In the Active Directory Users and Computers section, click on Users .

In the Users section click Action > New > Group. Choose the Add to a group,
and find that group name and click OK.

Adding LDAP Map
NEW LDAP MAP
The LDAP Map needs to be created to allow the LDAP users to access
the Avamar. When an LDAP map is configured, all users who are
assigned to the group have access to an Avamar domain as defined by
the user role.
Users can create LDAP Maps in the Avamar Administrator and the AUI.
The map must be created in the Avamar domain in which the users have
access. When creating an LDAP map, select the LDAP group that is
created for the assigned role.
From the Account Management tab, select LDAP Maps. Click Actions and
choose New LDAP Map. Fill out the options in the New LDAP Map dialog
box. Click OK.
Avamar Client Manager
Other tasks that are performed on a client in the AUI and Avamar
Administrator can also be performed from the Avamar Client Manager.
The Avamar Client Manager is useful for managing large number of

clients. The Client Manager can also assist administrators with moving
clients from one Avamar server to another Avamar server.
Avamar Client Manager is a web-based management application that

provides centralized administration of more than one Avamar server. The
Avamar Client Manager can analyze both failed and successful backups
and restores. The Client Manager is also capable of pushing client
software upgrades.
Overview
The login page authenticates the username and the password with
administrator accounts that are registered on the Avamar server. Avamar
Client Manager only allows access for accounts with administrator
privileges on the Avamar server that is running the Avamar Client
Manager process.
Avamar Client Manager can be accessed by navigating to

https://<Avamar server>/aam in a web browser.

Avamar Client Manager
The Avamar Client Manager has the ability to:
• Activate
• Retire
• Move
• Upgrade
• Delete
• Change Group Associations
Activating with Avamar Client Manager
Avamar Client Manager provides a centralized facility for multiple Avamar

servers to have their respective clients activated.
The Avamar Client Manger allows the following:

Avamar Client Manager New Clients
• Populate a list of clients by either importing a client list CSV or

querying a defined directory service.
• Manage clients that are already registered or activated on an Avamar
Server.
• Initiate the registration and activation of clients.
Moving Clients with Avamar Client Manager
Administrators can also move clients from one Avamar server to another.
Client Manager Add Server
From the Avamar Client Manager, users can view the Summary pane and
the Actions allows user to Move, Retire, and Delete clients as needed.

Avamar Client Manager Actions
Preparing a Client List CSV
As an alternative to using a directory service to import a client list,

administrators can prepare a Comma-Separated Value (CSV)17 file which
contains list of clients and import that list into Client Manager using the
Add Clients feature.
Avamar Client Manager is a web application, so the client list CSV file
must be available on the machine running the web browser. The client list
CSV is formatted according to the following rules:
• Needs to have at least two rows.

• The values (or columns) are separated only by a comma.
• The name for the first value is Hostname.
• The name for the second value is Group18.
17 A CSV file is a plain text file that contains a table, similar to a

spreadsheet, with all cell values separated by commas.
18 The Group value in the CSV does not relate to Avamar Backup Policy or
Policy Group. All newly imported clients must still be assigned to Avamar
domains after import, as part of activation.

• The first row of the file must consist of the literal names for each type
of value.
• The second row, and all subsequent rows must have at least one value
and no more than two values.
• The formatting rules require a first value that is a valid hostname or
Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) for a computer and a trailing
comma.
• The second value is optional, it is intended to be the directory service
logical group name for the computer. This directory service structure is
shown in Client Manager for all clients that are imported from the CSV
and allow clearer visual organization once imported.
An example of the client list is the following:

Hostname,Group User1-
desktop.Acme.corp.com,acme.corp/USA/MA User1-
laptop.Acme.corp.com,acme.corp/USA/CA/SFO User2-
desktop.Acme.corp.com,acme.corp/Engineering User3-
desktop.Acme.corp.com, User4-desktop.Acme.corp.com,

Managing Avamar Backups
Avamar Backups
Avamar backups are categorized into Scheduled and On-Demand.
• Scheduled Backups: Run automatically according to Backup Policy

specifications that the administrator can customize by the using the
AUI or Avamar Administrator.
Scheduled Backups
• On-Demand Backups: On-demand backups run instantly. On-demand

backups can be initiated off from the client or the Avamar Server and
can be performed using the AUI, Avamar Administrator, Avamar
Desktop/Laptop web UI, or the Management Console Command-Line
interface (MCCLI).

On-Demand Backups
Go to: For more information, see the Dell Avamar

Backup User Guide on the Dell Support website.
Avamar Policies
Backup Policies
Avamar uses backup policies for automating backups and enforcing

consistent rules across a collection of clients. Backups are scheduled to
run automatically by associating a Schedule with the Backup Policy, and
enabling the Backup Policy. The following components make up the
backup policy:

Avamar Schedule Components
Dataset Defines the files, folders, and databases that will be backed
up, as well as the plugins required to perform that backup.
Administrators can also narrow the scope by specifying
certain content, such as file types, to exclude or include.
Datasets can be created at any domain level and can be
assigned to one or more policies and clients within the
assigned domain.
Schedule Determines when and how often a backup will automatically

run. Can be created at any domain level and can be assigned
to one or more policies within the assigned domain.
Retention Specifies how long each backup is retained. Any backups

older than the specified retention are automatically dropped
from the system. Retention can be created at any domain
level and can be assigned to one or more policies and clients
within the assigned domain. These retention policies can still
be reused even if the client is deleted or retired.

Clients Avamar client is a device from which files can be backed up

or a device to which files can be restored. Typically this is a
laptop, desktop, server, or a virtual machine.
Pre-Configured Backup Policies
Within the root domain, Avamar includes by default two preconfigured

backup policies:
Pre-Configured Policies
Default Automatically includes all new clients, if no other groups

Group have been configured. The Default Group always uses
the system default dataset, schedule, and retention
policy. This cannot be changed; however, the
specifications of the default dataset, schedule, and
retention can be changed. By default, this group19 is
disabled.
Default The Default Proxy Group is also a preconfigured backup

Proxy Group policy and is used to support VMware Image Proxy
clients. By default, this group is disabled.
19Group in Avamar Administrator has now been renamed as Backup

Policy in the AUI.

Create a Backup Policy
Administrators can create a policy from the Backup Policy option click +ADD.
When the Properties window appears fill out the sections for Members,
Dataset, Schedule, and Retention. Review the Summary page and click
FINISH.
Backup Policy Summary
Avamar also provides the administrator the option to individually override

the Backup Policy's Dataset for clients selected in the Members step of
Backup Policy creation. The Override Dataset drop-down in the
Summary page allows clients with unique requirements to be backed up
at the same time as other Backup Policy members, but with a different
Dataset.

Administration Lab.

Avamar Schedules
Overview of Schedules
Schedules determine when and how often a backup is automatically run.

Schedules are also used to determine when custom event profile email
notifications are sent.
Schedules that are created at the root domain level can be assigned to
any backup policy throughout the hierarchy.
The following preconfigured schedules are defined at the root domain

level in Avamar:

Preconfigured Schedules
Daily Configured to run once every day. It is initially

Schedule configured similarly to the Default Schedule.
Default Used for replication jobs. It is set to run daily at 11 PM.

Replication
Schedule
Default Assigned to the Default Group. It is initially configured to

Schedule run once a day with the earliest start time of 10 P.M. US
Pacific time for a maximum of 8 hours.
Default Used for the Cloud Tier feature.

Tiering
Schedule

Evaluation Controls when the Evaluation Profile email notification

Schedule is sent. The evaluation profile is primarily intended to be
used to support system evaluations. If enabled, this
profile generates an email notification and attaches a
report to the email with two weeks of detailed client
activities.
Notifications Controls when custom event profile email notification

Schedule messages are sent.
Override Defines the available start times for Avamar Desktop

Daily Laptop clients that can override a set schedule.
Schedule
Time for Schedules
The times displayed when editing or creating a schedule, and the times
that are displayed in the AUI and Avamar Administrator interfaces are in
the local time zone of the Avamar Administrator client or web browser that
is running the AUI.
The following time zones are used by various Avamar components:
• The Avamar server utility node is the local time where the Avamar
server resides.
• The Avamar storage nodes, MCDB, and reports track time in GMT.
• The Avamar client20 is in local time of the client machine.
For example:
20 The time that is displayed in most client log files is the local time of the
client. However, there are some client log files that are time/date-stamped
in GMT.

Pacific Time Mountain Time Central Time Eastern Time

Avamar Server Avamar Client Avamar Client AUI or Avamar
10:00 PM 11:00 PM 12:00 AM Administrator
Monday Monday Tuesday Interface
1:00 AM
Tuesday
Defining and Creating Schedules
To define a schedule, go to the Setting menu and select the domain that is
needed. From the Schedule tab, click +ADD. From the Create Schedule
window enter the information needed for: Basic Configuration, Recurrence
Pattern, and Activities Constraint. Review the Summary window, click FINISH.
Basic Configuration Recurrence Pattern Activities Constraint Summary
Recurrence Types
The recurrence types in Avamar schedules are of various types, including

Daily, Weekly, Monthly, and On-Demand.

Daily These policies that are associated with the schedule that
is run on a daily basis. If the Daily recurrence type is
selected, and then the backup jobs are repeated every
day at one or more times of the day. With daily
schedules, limit the duration of the activity to prevent job
overlap.
Weekly The Weekly recurrence type is selected, and then the

backup job is repeated every week on one or more days
of the week. With weekly schedules, define the earliest
start time for the activity, and the time at which the
activity is stopped, even if it is still in progress.
Monthly The Monthly recurrence type is selected, the backup jobs

repeat on a specific calendar date or on a designated
day of the week each month, such as the first Sunday of
every month. With monthly schedules, define the earliest
start time for the activity, and the time at which the
activity is stopped, even if it is still in progress.
On-Demand The On-Demand schedules never run automatically.

Schedules of this type are typically assigned to policies
that are only run on-demand.

Administration Lab.
Allowing Overtime Option
The Overtime option allows backups to run longer than their Backup
Window as configured in the relevant schedule assigned.
The settings for the overtime feature are the following:

Overtime Option
Overtime until The Overtime attribute for a client is set automatically

successful to Overtime until successful backup when a client
backup registers with the Avamar server.
No overtime After the first successful backup for the client, the
allowed Overtime attribute is changed automatically to No
overtime allowed.
Overtime on If the administrator is running a full initial client backup

next backup where the time to complete the backup could
only potentially exceed the schedule duration period, set
the Overtime attribute to Overtime on next backup
only. This allows the backup to run beyond the
duration period.
Always allow When overtime is allowed, the duration settings on a

overtime schedule are ignored, allowing scheduled backups to
run as long as necessary to complete.

Important: From the Avamar Administration UI only,

administrators can set Override retention policy on client-
initiated backups.

Administration Guide on the Dell Support website.
Avamar Retentions
Retention policies specify how long the backup is retained. Any backups
older than the specified retention are automatically removed from the
system.
The removal of expired backup data from the system and returning those
blocks to free space depends on several factors, including whether a
unique data segment is referenced by another backup that has not yet
expired. If the segment is still in use it is not cleared with the rest of the
expired backup's segments, also whether the garbage collection cycle has
run yet.
Retention policies can be created at any domain level and can be

assigned to one or more groups and clients within the respective domain
and sub-domain.
There are two types of retention settings are the following:
• Basic
• Advanced

Tip: Administrators cannot apply advanced retention

settings to on-demand backups.
Preconfigured Retention Policy Catalog
The Avamar system includes a set of preconfigured retention policies by

default. Administrators can use these retention policies for scheduled
backups of clients, or administrators can create a custom retention policy.
The following preconfigured retention policies are defined at the root

domain level in Avamar:
Default Defines backup retention settings for the Default Group. By

Retention default, the policy assigns a retention period of 60 days and
retains 60 days of daily backups.
End User Controls the retention settings for on-demand backups that
On- the client begins with, such as using the Back Up Now
Demand command on the Avamar Windows client. Advanced
retention settings are disabled on this retention policy
because advanced retention settings never apply to on-
demand backups. The End User On Demand Retention policy is
a global system object that only controls retention for on-
demand backups that the client begins with. Administrators
cannot assign the End User On Demand Retention policy to a
backup policy.

Minimal Enables administrators to enforce a minimum basic

Retention retention setting across an entire site. This feature is
intended to address the need of some enterprises to
enforce sitewide minimum retention standards regardless of
what individual organizations might decide to implement
with other retention policies. The Minimal Retention policy is a
global system object that controls only the minimal retention
setting. Therefore, administrators cannot assign the Minimal
Retention policy to a backup policy.
For example, administrators can keep all backups for at
least 90 days regardless of what other retention policies
specify.
Monthly An expiration of one month after the backup is performed.

Retention
Weekly An expiration of one week after the backup is performed.

Retention
Basic Retention Setting
The following shows the Basic Retention settings:
Retention Description
Setting
Retention Enables administrators to define a fixed retention period in

Period days, weeks, months, or years after the backup is
performed.
 For example, administrators can specify that backups
expire after 6 months.
End Date Enables administrators to assign a calendar date as the

expiration date.
 For example, administrators can specify that
backups expire on December 31, 2023.

No End Enables backups to be kept indefinitely. This setting is

Date useful for ensuring that all backups that are assigned this
retention policy are retained for the life of the system.
Advanced Retention Setting
Advanced retention settings are an optional set of rules to be used with

scheduled backups for dynamically assigning backup expiration dates
based on how long to keep the daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly backups
in the system.
For scheduled daily backups are automatically assigned one or more

advanced retention types:
• Each successful scheduled backup is assigned the Daily retention type.

• The first successful scheduled backup each week is assigned both
Daily and Weekly retention types.
• The first successful scheduled backup each month is assigned both
Daily and Monthly retention type.
• The first successful scheduled backup each year is assigned Daily,
Weekly, Monthly, and Yearly retention type.
For assigning advanced retention types, each day begins at 00:00:01

GMT, each week begins on Sunday, each month begins on the first
calendar day of that month, and each year begins on January 1.
Always use daily scheduled backups with retention policies with advanced
retention settings. The Always keep: n weeks of daily backups setting has no
effect unless there are daily backups in the system. Depending on the
schedule used, daily backups may not be in the system.
For example, if an administrator assigns a schedule to a group that only

performs weekly backups, and then there are no daily backups in the
system.


Administration Lab.
Creating a Dataset
A single dataset definition can use more than one plug-in type. When
backing up, Avamar uses the appropriate plug-in based on the client
definition. The default dataset is used to back up all local file systems for
all clients. However, there can be instances where there is a must create a
dataset to define specific persistent requirements.
To create a dataset, go to the Setting pane, and chose the domain needed
and chose the Dataset tab and click +ADD.
In the Create DataSet window enter the following information, and click
SUBMIT.
Example:
• Source Data: C:\

• Exclusions: C:\TempData\
• Inclusions: C:\TempData\BackupThisUp

Create DataSet
Dataset Provides a name for the dataset.

Name
Plugins Choose the types of plugins that must be part of the

backup policy. Depending on the types of data being
backed up, additional plugins can be installed on the client
as well.
Options Selecting a plug-in enables the options available for the

specific plug-in. A single dataset can include options
selections for more than one plug-in type. Options can be
selected from the items that are in the AUI or entered as
attribute/value text. Checking Show Advanced
Options expands the list of options that are displayed to
include options that may be used for troubleshooting or
fine-tuning the system.
Source Data Choose the base file systems, directories, or files that this
dataset can backup. Administrators can choose to either
select all data for all local file systems or enter explicit file
systems, directories, or files per plug-in type. If entering
explicit items, the default all local file systems entry for that
plug-in type is removed. Similarly, clients create a backup
for every plug-in that is installed on the client, if those
plugins have been specified in the same dataset.

Inclusions Specifies the items that administrators want to include in

the backup. Be sure that the correct plug-in is selected
from the list. The Inclusion tab is only available with
Avamar File System plugins. This is the exception to the
exclusion in the Source Data tab.
Exclusions Specifies items to exclude from the backup dataset

specified in Source Data. Be sure to select the correct plug-
in. Also, the exclusions only apply to the plug-in selected
when adding them to the list. The Exclusion tab is only
available with Avamar File System Plugins.

Administration Lab.
Go to: For more information about creating datasets, see

the Dell Avamar Administration Guide on the Dell Support
website.
Managing Backups
Avamar allows administrators to manage backups from the AUI or Avamar

Administrator. Administrators can list the backups run for a particular client
by selecting the client that is registered to a domain under the Asset
Management tab and clicking VIEW MORE.
The following management tasks can be performed on an Avamar backup

using the AUI:

Search for a Backup
Search by Date
Select a client from the Asset Management, click Backup. Use the Search
option to search by dates.
Restore a Backup
Restore
Avamar allows administrators to restore a regular or replicated backup to

the original client or to a different client based on the requirement.

Recall a Backup
Recall a Backup
Avamar allows administrators to recall the backup directly to the client

from a cloud unit if the tier status of the backup is CLOUD.
Delete a Backup
Delete a Backup

Avamar allows administrators to delete a backup. This permanently

deletes the backup from Avamar. Unused data blocks from the deleted
backup are returned to free space when the next garbage collection
process runs, or, if the backup is stored on an integrated PowerProtect
DD, when the PowerProtect DD cleaning process runs.
Change Expiration Date
Change expiration date
The expiration date can be a specific date that is selected or a retention

period of days, weeks, months, or years.
Avamar allows administrators to configure a backup to remain in backup

storage for as long as the client remains active on the Avamar server.
Change Retention Type
Change retention type

The administrator automatically assigns one or more retention types to

every backup. Administrators can manually change the retention types
assigned to a backup.
For example, the first backup that is created on an Avamar system is

tagged as daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly. If no tag is wanted the
option Not tagged is assigned.

Administrator Lab.
Avamar Backup and Maintenance Windows
Avamar divides each day into two operational windows during which
various system activities are performed:
Backup and Maintenance Window

Backup The time the Avamar server reserves for performing

Window regular, scheduled backups. During the backup window,
the Avamar server does not run any server maintenance
activities. By default, the Backup Window is configured to
start at 8 P.M. and end at 8 A.M. Configure all backup
scheduled backups to start, run, and complete during the
time that is defined in the Backup Window. Avoid creating
any schedules that extend into the Maintenance Window, as
backups that are running cause garbage collection
performance to drop.
Maintenance This is the time the Avamar server reserves for performing
Window maintenance activities. During the Maintenance Window, the
Avamar server runs garbage collection, takes a
checkpoint, runs checkpoint validation (HFS check), and
takes a final checkpoint.
If the Avamar server is integrated with a PowerProtect DD,
the data maintenance operations, aside from garbage
collection, are performed on the DD storage. With an
integrated PowerProtect DD, during garbage collection, a
list of cleanable hashes is sent to the PowerProtect DD
and the associated data will be cleared and returned to
free space on the PowerProtect DD when the next DD
cleaning process runs by default, once a week.
Important: The start times and duration of the operational

windows can be customized to meet specific site
requirements. However, the customization should be
done cautiously, as any changes that are made to the
windows have the potential to negatively impact server
maintenance activities.

Examine Avamar and PowerProtect DD Integration
Avamar Integration with PowerProtect DD Overview
Dell PowerProtect DD series appliances are used to store backup data

from Avamar clients. During a backup, the Avamar server sends a backup
request to the Avamar client. If the backup request includes the option to
use a PowerProtect DD as the target, backup data is stored on the
PowerProtect DD, and metadata21 is stored on the Avamar server.
Some of the features of integrating Avamar with PowerProtect DD include:
• Avamar manages backup clients, schedules, datasets, and other

policies.
• PowerProtect DD integration, PowerProtect DD stores backup data
from clients. Clients send data directly to PowerProtect DD using DD
Boost technology. As a result, only file cache is used as DDBoost API
integration, which shortens the client-side caching process.
• VMware image backups are configured for rapid recovery using the
Avamar instant access feature. With instant access, the virtual
machine image backup is staged to a temporary NFS share on the
PowerProtect DD. If needed, vSphere can be used to initiate a Storage
vMotion operation. The vSphere client is then used to power on the
virtual machine.
21Metadata is the backup information such as date, time, retentions,

schedules, and client name. This is used as pointers to the backups on
the PowerProtect DD.

Important: Avamar manages maintenance operations for

both Avamar and the PowerProtect DD appliance.
Important: Avamar does not store the original path and

file name for a file on the PowerProtect DD appliance.
Instead, Avamar uses unique file names on the
PowerProtect DD appliance.
PowerProtect DD Integration Features
Integrating Avamar with PowerProtect DD provides the following features:
Feature Functionality
Instant Access A virtual machine backup is booted from the

PowerProtect DD without performing a restore back
to the VMware datastore. This feature of
PowerProtect DD integration is known as Instant
Access.
Checkpoint Single-node servers and AVE servers enable Avamar

Backups to to perform backups of checkpoint data to a
PowerProtect PowerProtect DD. Disaster recovery is possible
DD without the need for a second Avamar server. If a
disaster occurs, the checkpoint can be restored.

Token-Based Avamar can establish a connection to a PowerProtect

Authentication DD using the DD Boost Token-based Authentication.
In Token-based Authentication, each token is unique.
The token exists only during a backup. The clients do
not store any of the credentials. The risk of breach
into a system is greatly reduced. This feature is
important for multitenant BaaS environments.
Avamar clients connect securely to the PowerProtect
DD without going through login formalities.
REST API REST API provides Quota management and

PowerProtect DD physical capacity reporting.
Cloud Tier Avamar leverages the PowerProtect DD Cloud

Tiering Feature. The feature allows older backups to
be tiered to cloud-based storage for long-term
storage.
Age-based policy support for PowerProtect DD Cloud
Tier.
Single administrative step backup recalls from cloud
restore to clients.
Go to: For more detailed information, see the Avamar

and Data Domain System Integration Guide and or DDOS
Administration Guide on Dell Support website.
Important: PowerProtect DD cloud storage units must be

preconfigured on the PowerProtect DD appliance before
they can be configured for cloud tier in the AUI.

Types of PowerProtect DD Configurations with an

Avamar Environment
The following are the three different types of backup configurations with an
Avamar that is integrated with a PowerProtect DD appliance:
Basic Configuration
The basic configuration consists of a single Avamar server with a single

PowerProtect DD appliance, backing up several Avamar clients. When a
backup is kicked off, the Avamar server sends a backup request to the
Avamar client. The Avamar agent on the client recognizes a PowerProtect
DD backup request and launches the DD Boost client. DD Boost performs
deduplication and streams the backup data to the PowerProtect DD.
Metadata for the backup is sent from the Avamar client to the Avamar
server. Avamar still performs all management and tracking tasks for the
backup.
Metadata for the backup is sent from the Avamar client to the Avamar
server. Avamar manages the backup even though the data is stored on a
PowerProtect DD system. Metadata is stored on the Avamar system, and
the backup data is sent to and stored on the PowerProtect DD.

Multiple PowerProtect DD Appliances
The multiple appliance environment has an Avamar system with multiple

PowerProtect DD appliances. To separate data, use multiple
PowerProtect DD appliances with a single Avamar server.
This type of configuration provides a large amount of storage by using

multiple Data Domains. When using this type of configuration, be sure that
the Avamar server is sized properly so that it can store all metadata.
Having multiple PowerProtect DD appliances also increases the number

of simultaneous backups allowed. When directing one backup to two
different PowerProtect DD appliances, keep in mind that the data from one
system is not deduplicated against a single one.

Backup clients that use incremental backup22 strategies must store the
incremental on the same PowerProtect DD appliance as their associated
full backups.
Shared PowerProtect DD Appliance
A shared environment is where an Avamar system and another backup

system share a PowerProtect DD appliance. The other backup solution
can be any other backup product that uses a PowerProtect DD appliance
or it can be another Avamar server.
The PowerProtect DD logically separates the data from different sources

by storing it in different Mtrees.
When using a single PowerProtect DD with multiple Avamar servers, be

sure that there is enough capacity 23on the PowerProtect DD. Keep in
mind that each PowerProtect DD appliance has a limited number of
streams and Mtree. These resources must be shared among the Avamar
and other backup applications.
Important: Backup data is not staged on the Avamar

before it is sent to the PowerProtect DD.
Back Up Processes for PowerProtect DD with Avamar
The backup process for Avamar that are integrated with PowerProtect DD
uses the DDboost Protocol. DD Boost provides deduplication at the client
22 Typically database log backups, incremental backups can be taken

multiple times a day. This is used for point in time restores.
23 Capacity planning can be more difficult when PowerProtect DD storage
is shared amongst multiple systems.

so that only unique data is sent across the network. The method is similar
to how Avamar provides deduplication except that the file cache is not
used (except for file system backups).
The DDboost SDK is installed automatically on the client system during

the installation of the Avamar client. The following steps are performed
during a backup with a PowerProtect DD:
• When a backup request is made, DD Boost software on the client

divides the data into variable size segments which create a unique
hash that is seen by PowerProtect DD as a fingerprint.
• The client checks to see if the segment has already been stored.
• If the unique segment has not previously been seen by the client and
or found in the DD Summary Vector Array (segment catalog in DD
appliance RAM) on the DD appliance, the client compresses the data
and sends it to the PowerProtect DD.
• The PowerProtect DD appliance writes the data to its own file system
or disk.
• For most backup types, the file cache is not used. File system
backups, however, do use a file cache. If a file has not changed since
the last backup, it does not get segmented, and its segments are not
queried against the PowerProtect DD.
Important: Before the DDboost can be used, the

PowerProtect DD appliance needs to be configured to
accept DDboost data.
Adding and Deleting a PowerProtect DD System to

Avamar
When a PowerProtect DD system is added to the Avamar configuration,

Avamar creates a Management Tress (MTree) on the PowerProtect DD
system for the Avamar server. The MTree are storage directories that are
used by PowerProtect DD to provide more granular management of data,

enabling data from different sources to be managed and reported on

separately using separate MTree.
Before a PowerProtect DD can be deleted from Avamar the following

requires validation:
• All backups and checkpoints must be removed.

• The PowerProtect DD must be online.
• There must be more than one PowerProtect DD configured for the
Avamar.
Adding a PowerProtect DD
The following prerequisites must be configured on the PowerProtect DD

before Avamar is integrated:
• DD Boost user must be created. The DD Boost user needs

Administrative privileges on the Data Domain.
• If using key-based SSH to connect with the Avamar, the SSH public
key must be added to the DD Boost user.
• SNMP string needs to be configured.
A PowerProtect DD system is added to Avamar through the AUI using the

Add Data Domain System wizard under the Server Management tab
and then selecting Actions.
Deleting a PowerProtect DD
Before deleting a PowerProtect the following must be confirmed:
• The PowerProtect DD that is to be deleted must be online.

• Verify that no backups from clients that are managed by the integrated
Avamar server are stored on the PowerProtect DD appliance that is to
be deleted.
• Verify that no Avamar checkpoints from the integrated Avamar server
are stored on the PowerProtect DD appliance that is to be deleted.

• Verify that all expired backups on the PowerProtect DD appliance are

deleted through the Avamar garbage collection process.
• A new validated checkpoint must be created on the Avamar after the
PowerProtect DD is deleted.

Administration Lab.
Go to: For more information about adding or deleting and

PowerProtect DD, see the Dell Avamar and Data Domain
System Integration Guide on the Dell Support website.
Warning: If an Avamar server has multiple PowerProtect

DD appliances that are integrated, deletion of a DD
appliance can be performed, however, deleting the last
PowerProtect DD appliance from an Avamar server
requires advanced services.
Restoring from PowerProtect DD with Avamar
The restore process from the AUI is the same whether Avamar is
integrated with PowerProtect DD or not. The difference is the workflow,
which is transparent to the backup administrator.
When the restore of a backup is initiated, the Avamar server uses the
stored metadata from the backup to locate the data on the PowerProtect
DD. The backup is restored directly from the PowerProtect DD to the
client.


Administration Lab.
Impacts of Avamar Maintenance Activities on

PowerProtect DD
Avamar runs maintenance every day at the beginning of a 12-hour window

and communicates the same to PowerProtect DD as well. PowerProtect
calls its maintenance cleaning. Cleaning should not be run on the same
schedule as the Avamar maintenance, it only runs once a week.
During this 12-hour period Garbage Collection runs, the other time is
spent on checkpoints and HFS checks. If the HFS check completes before
the 12-hour window, the maintenance completes.
Avamar communicates maintenance commands to PowerProtect DD

using the ddrmaint service. The ddrmaint service is installed on the
Avamar Utility Node as part of the installation package.
The Avamar and PowerProtect DD operations that are impacted are:
Operations Impacts

Garbage GC runs daily and identifies hashes that have expired

Collection and hashes from canceled or failed backups. At same
(GC) time the hashes are sent to the PowerProtect DD24 to
clear the corresponding data.
Checkpoint Avamar creates a checkpoint, and then the PowerProtect

(cp) DD takes a snapshot25 of the entire directory.
HFS Check HFS verifies the integrity of the data in the checkpoint.
Upgrading PowerProtect DD Integrated with Avamar
Upgrading the DD OS before upgrading the Avamar server is

recommended but not required. If the DD OS is not upgraded before the
Avamar server, the DD OS should immediately be upgraded afterward.
Go to: For more information about upgrades, see the

Dell DD OS Administration Guide on the Dell Support
website.
24 Data Domain runs cleaning only once a week. It moves the data to
/DELETED directory under its cur directory under the Avamar Mtree. By
default, on Tuesday when Data Domain runs cleaning, it clears the entire
/DELETED directory. Recoveries of backups are not possible after hashes
are deleted from Avamar, and the space is reclaimed from Data Domain
only after weekly cleaning is successful.
25 In the event of a rollback on Avamar, the cp allows the Data Domain to
run a fast copy operation of that snapshot back to its point in time.

Important: To ensure that there are no compatibility

issues, verify that the version of DD OS being upgraded
to is compatible with the version of Avamar. To verify
compatibility, use the E-LAB Navigator.

Managing Avamar Restores
Types of Avamar Restores
Administrators can restore by the date of the backup and then restore to
either the same original location, a different location, or multiple locations.
To find a backup by a date, go to Asset Management and select the

domain where the client resides from the domain tree. Once the client is
selected, click VIEW MORE from the Client Summary window. Below are
the options for restoring:
Restore to Original Client
Avamar can restore to the original client and original locations.
Be sure to see the user guide for each plugin for more details for restores.
Restore to original client
Restore to Different Client
Administrators can restore to a different client by choosing another client

and location for the restore. The Destination Location can be same directory
location or an alternate location.

Be sure to refer to the user guide for each plugin for more details for
restores.
Restore to a different client
Restore to a New Virtual Machine
Administrators can also restore VM backups to a new virtual machine

Similar to the restores to original or a different client, but when the
Destination Location window is displayed, the Restore to New Virtual Machine
appears. Select the vCenter and provide the Virtual Machine Name in the
Advanced Config section.

Restore to a new virtual machine

Administration Lab.
Operating System Server Recovery Solutions
Avamar is compatible with the native OS-specific server recover solutions

to achieve various levels of server disaster recovery.
• Windows Operating System

• Windows Server Operating System
• RedHat
• Linux
• Oracle Solaris

Important: Use the E-Lab Navigator for details on

supported versions.
Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) Recovery Pre-

Requisites
Before performing a disaster recovery, ensure that a completed system

backup of the Windows client exists. This backup must include the system
state data that is captured with the Windows VSS plugin. Verify the
following:
• Check the contents of the backup in the Backup and Restore interface to
ensure that there is an entry for the Automated System Recovery
(ASR) writer.
• To recover from a disaster, provision new hardware that is similar to
the original hardware. The disk size must be at least the same size as
the source. Also, be sure to have the same number of disks.
Tip: This plug-in is also used for the Active Directory

server backups.

Administration Lab.

Avamar Bare Metal Recovery Wizard
The bare-metal recovery uses a customized Windows Preinstallation

Environment (WinPE) boot disk that provides a minimal set of Windows
features. The installation of the full operating system is not required. The
new server can boot from the WinPE disk and restore all data back onto
the hard drive, including the original operating system. The ISO for this
disk is in the Avamar Downloads webpage.
The WinPE ISO can also be added as a boot image to a Windows

Deployment Services server. This allows the new bare-metal server to
boot the image from the network instead of a local USB. Restoring a
physical server to a virtual machine is also supported. This can be useful if
a server must be recovered immediately before new hardware is available.
During the disaster recovery, all critical disks are formatted.
When the new client is booted from the WinPE disk, the Avamar System
Recovery Wizard is displayed. The wizard asks for date and time
information, networking information, the address of the Avamar server,
and the backup to recover from.
The Avamar System Recovery Wizard asks for the following:

Avamar System Recovery Wizard
• Date and Time

• Networking Information
• Avamar Server Address
• Location for recovered backup
• Disk Details
• Operating System Settings

Windows Full System Backup
Windows full system backup for the client must be performed to

successfully recover a Windows server. A full system backup is performed
using the Windows VSS plugin.
The VSS plugin does not back up critical disks on shared storage in a
cluster. If the server has shared cluster storage, the cluster share must be
backed up using a file system plugin.
Click on the green boxes for more information:
1: The Options tab allows administrators to add a Snapup Label and

have options to select for Create Disaster Recovery Backup.

New Dataset Full System_Window
2: Select plugin Type, use the Windows VSS option. The Backup is
performed using the Windows VSS plugin.
3: Clear out all other plugin options, and add in the VSS options. The
dataset should have client file system and system state data.


Administration Guide and Avamar Windows Servers
Users Guide on the Dell Support website.

Exploring VMware Backups and Restores
Avamar Guest Backup Overview
Configuring the virtual machine for guest level backups is identical to

installing a physical Avamar client:
• Open the web browser and type in

https://Avamar_server/dtlt/home.html where the
Avamar_server is the DNS name or IP address of the Avamar.
When the Downloads Page appears, download the operating system
platform for the specific client.
• Once the download is complete, Register and Activate the client with
the Avamar server.
Guest Backup Overview
Guest backups protect the VM data with the Avamar client software.
Installing and registering are the same steps when installing and
registering a physical client.
When registering VM clients protected by guest backup, do not register

them to a vCenter domain. Doing so prevents the administrator from
locating or managing that virtual machine in Avamar Administrator.
Instead, register any virtual machine clients that are protected by guest
backup to some other domain or subdomain (for example, /clients).
For application consistent backups of applications such as Microsoft SQL,

Microsoft Exchange, Oracle. The corresponding plug-in software is
available to be installed in addition to the Avamar client software.
Considerations and Guidelines
The advantage of using guest-level backups:
• Backups fully support all applications and operating system clients that
are provided by Avamar.

• Each virtual machine is separately managed. In a large environment,

this can add up to a significant number of VMs. In order for guest-level
backups to run the host VM needs to be powered on, and on the
backup network.
• It is the only way to protect virtual machines that are not hosted in a
virtual environment (for example, desktops and laptops).
• Application plug-ins and their features add the ability to exclude data
from the backups.
Go to: For more detailed information, see the Avamar for

VMware Users Guide Dell Support website.
Important: See the E-Lab Navigator for a list of supported

clients.
Avamar Image Backup Overview
Avamar offers two ways to protect data on VMware virtual machines:

image backup and guest backup.
Before configuring VMware Image Backup, configure communication

between the vCenter and the Avamar26 server. The vCenter server is also
added as a client to the Avamar server.
26The Avamar server uses the vCenter server to gather information about
the target virtual machines and manage them during backup.

The image backup uses VMware vStorage API for Data Protection
(VADP) to protect virtual machine (VM) data. This is fully integrated with
vCenter Server to allow for detection of the VM clients and enable
centralized management of backup jobs. Multiple image proxies can be
configured for a single system. Proxies share the load of the backup jobs,
allowing for better performance.
Below are the descriptions of Avamar image backups processes:
Image Backup Overview
Avamar Image Level backup
Image backups are fully integrated with vCenter Server to provide

detection of virtual machine clients and enable efficient centralized
management of backup jobs. Images backups are application consistent
and sufficient for most use cases.
Some of the advantages of Image level backups are:
• VM does not need to be powered on.

• VM does not need to be on backup network.

• Backup command runs on Proxy.

• Proxy does DDBoost processing.
Some of the disadvantages of Image level backups are:
• Files or directories cannot be excluded but Changed Block Tracking

(CBT) helps reduce amount of data that needs to be deduplicated.
• Limited support for Application Consistent backup and recovery (VSS
SQL).
Proxies
Image backups and restores require deployment of proxy virtual machines

within the vCenter. Proxies run Avamar software inside a Linux virtual
machine. Deploy Proxies using an appliance template (.ova) file or the
Proxy Deployment Manager.
The image proxy VM is created on the ESXi server by importing the .ova
file. Dell Technologies recommends deploying multiple proxies to allow for
several simultaneous backups.
Each proxy provides the following:

Default Requirements for proxy virtual machines
• Backup of Microsoft Windows and Linux virtual machines (entire

images or specific drives)
• Restore of Microsoft Windows and Linux virtual machines (entire
images or specific drives)
• Provides selective restore of individual folders and files.
Each proxy can perform eight simultaneous backup or restore operations,

in any combination. They are allowed in any part of the Avamar
Administrator account management tree except the vCenter Server
domain.

Snapshots
A snapshot is a temporary creation of the virtual machine. If the virtual

machine is running at the time of the backup, the snapshot can impact
disk I/O and consumes disk space on the datastore.
Custom scripts can be created to run during the backup of a virtual

machine. A prescript can run before the VMDK snapshot process begins,
and a postscript can run after the snapshot creation has finished. These
custom scripts27 can be used to quiesce the applications that are running
on the VM.
Adding custom scripts in Create Dataset
The Avamar image backup supports three types of virtual disks:
• Flat (version 1 and 2)
27In order to use custom scripts, the scripts must exist on the virtual
machine. In the backup options, specify a path to the scripts and provide a
username and password for a virtual machine user account that has
permission to run these scripts.

• Raw Device Mapped (RDM) in virtual mode only (version 1 and 2)

• Sparse (version 1 and 2)
The supported architectures for image backups are the following:
• Fiber channel Storage Area Networks (SAN) hosting VMFS and RDMS
• iSCSI channel SAN storage
• Network File Share (NFS)
Image Backup Limitations
Image backups offer moderate deduplication efficiency and do not

consume guest level machine resources, such as CPU, RAM, or disk
during backups.
The following are system-wide limitations that apply to image level

backups:
Types of Limitations Results
Special characters are not Because of this limitation in the

allowed in data center, datastore, vCenter software, when special
folder, or VM names. characters are used in these areas
the .vmx file is not in the backup.
Avamar server upgrades require After an upgrade of the Avamar

proxy reboots. server, the administrator manually
has to reboot all proxies that are
connected to the Avamar server.

Changing a VM disk The next entire image backup to be

configuration (adding or processed as a full backup. Virtual
removing a disk). disks are processed, and changed
block tracking is not used.
The vCenter nested containers. When backing up a VMware

container that contains other
containers, Avamar only backs up
the top level of the hierarchy. Two
solutions for this limitation:
• Flatten the container structure.
• Add the vApps to Avamar as
separate container entities and
back up separately.
Important: Dell Technologies recommends using a SAN-

attached datastore to reduce traffic over the IP network.
When SAN connectivity is not available, using guest-level
backup is preferred.
VMware Image Backup Process
The image backup is initiated either by a scheduled Avamar group or an

on-demand by an Avamar user. The Avamar server communicates28 with
the vCenter server in order to prepare the backup.
28 Communication between Avamar and vCenter is on port 443.

The vCenter server creates a temporary VMware snapshot of the virtual

machine client. This snapshot is a point-in-time copy of the virtual machine
that allows the virtual machine to continue running throughout the backup
process.
The proxy mounts the virtual machine files and creates a temporary
snapshot29 and deduplicates, compresses, and sends the data to the
Avamar server.
VMware Image Backup Configuration
Configuring MCS for Guest and Image backups
By default, Avamar only allows one instance of a client name. In order to

support using both image and guest backup to protect the same virtual
machine, configure the Avamar MCS to allow duplicate client names.
29Once the backup completes, the vCenter server removes the temporary
snapshot.

mcserver.xml
Container Clients
Containers provide the capability of managing multiple virtual machines,

vApps, virtual machine folders, and resource pools. When the
administrators add a VMware container to Avamar all VMs within it are
treated as a single object. Containers are created and managed by
VMware; they are not configured in Avamar.
Containers are defined as either dynamic or static when added to the AUI.
• Dynamic containers include all contents of the vCenter container.

Avamar monitors the container entity in vCenter. When changes occur
(for example, virtual machines or folders are added or deleted), they
are automatically reflected in the AUI.
• Static containers only include what is in the vCenter container at the
time that it is added to Avamar. If subsequent changes occur in
vCenter, is not reflected in the AUI.
Avamar scans only the top-level container when detecting virtual

machines. Nested VMware containers (a container that contains other
containers) result in subcontainers being added to Avamar as one
entity and VMs inside the subcontainers cannot be individually backed
up.
Two solutions exist for this limitation:

• Flatten the container structure.

• Add nested vApps to Avamar as separate container entities so that
they can be backed up separately.
VMware Image Groups
VMware Image Groups
Avamar has three default groups for virtual machines:
• The group created under the domain of the vCenter. This type of group
behaves like any normal group except that clients can be assigned to
different proxy servers.
• The Default Virtual Machine group is where new virtual machine
clients are automatically added when they are registered.
• The Default Proxy group is where VMware image proxy clients reside.

Integration with VMware Lab.

Autodiscovery of Virtual Machines
The Avamar server uses rules to automatically map autodiscovered

virtual machines to domains and to assign backup policies to these VMs.
Rules use one or more filtering mechanisms to determine whether VMs
qualify for inclusion in a policy.
Enable Dynamic VM Import By Rule
Editing vCenter client to add Enable Dynamic VM import by rule
Autodiscovery uses domain-mapping rules to map a new or moved VM to

Avamar domains. These rules are selected or created when Enable
Dynamic VM import by rule is selected during the configuration of the
vCenter client.

Create Rules
Creating a New Rule for all VMs that start with name demo
Rules30 are applied across the entire virtual environment, so VMs from
various hosts, folders, and vApps can all match the same rule. Rules allow
the administrator to filter virtual machines based on various attributes such
as the VM Name, tag, vApp, and more.
More Autodiscovery
• In addition to autodiscovering new VMs, vMotion of VMs from one

vCenter to another is also automatically detected by the Avamar
software.
• If the new vCenter hosting the VM is configured in Avamar, the VM is
automatically moved from the original vCenter client to the new
vCenter client using the same user-defined rules to assign its domain
and backup policy.
• If a VM is deleted from vCenter, it is automatically removed from the
vCenter client. For dynamic containers, VMs deleted on the vCenter
30When protecting an ESXi only the VM names and the root folder are
supported in rules.

server will not be fully removed from Avamar, but the VM's icon will
turn from blue to gray. This allows backups that are taken of the
deleted VM to still be restored until they expire.
Important: vCenter 5.5 and later releases support the

autodiscover feature. However, vCenter must be release
6.0 or higher to use VM tags in rules.
Important: Avamar does not support the Autodiscovery for

template VMs.
Virtual Machine Restore Overview
Avamar provides two distinct mechanisms for restoring Virtual Machine

(VM) data:
• Image Restores contain an entire image or specific drives.

• File-Level Restores contain specific folder and files.

Virtual Machine Restore Workflow
Here are the steps when a restore is initiated:
1. The vCenter server creates a temporary snapshot.

2. The proxy mounts the snapshot.
3. Avamar Server or PowerProtect DD sends the data to the proxy.
4. The proxy reassembles and writes the data to the VM snapshot.
File-Level Restore Process Overview
File Level Restore (FLR) enables the administrator to restore individual

files from a backup without requiring a full (image-level) restore. The
administrator can browse the files and folders that are contained within a
backup volume to select specific items.
The two methods for FLR are as follows:
HTTPS
The Avamar VMware FLR feature is implemented using a proxy server. By

default, Avamar uses the HTTPS protocol to perform the file-level restore.
Using HTTPS to download the files is faster than the file copy method.
The process requires that the virtual machine is powered on, and have a

network connection. The proxy server uses AvFS, which allows the proxy
to access the backed-up VMDK files.
When a file level restore is initiated:
• The proxy sends a customized download script that contains all the
requested file names to the client virtual machine.
• The client runs this script, which downloads the files from the proxy
with the wget command. To take advantage of the performance
improvement. The wget needs to be installed on the client prior to use.
File Copy
Avamar uses the File Copy method only when the HTTPS is not available.
The File Copy method can be used if the client is offline, and only a small
amount of data needs to be restored.
When a file level restore is initiated:
• The proxy mounts the AvFS share.

• The proxy uses custom Avamar code to extract specific files from
VMDK files.
• The VMware VIX API moves the files into the client VM. The VIX API
requires that the VM client is powered on, it does not require a network
connection.
Instant Access - PowerProtect DD
The Instant Access feature enables booting backed-up virtual machines

that are on the PowerProtect DD appliance. The administrator can access
the files in the backup.
To use the Instant Access feature, select Instant Access in the

Destination field while performing restores.

Instant Access Process
Instant Access includes the following activities:
1. Instant access is initiated by using the Avamar AUI.

2. The selected VMware backup is cloned (Data Domain fastcopy) to
temporary NFS share on the PowerProtect DD system.
3. Temporary NFS share is exported, and mounted on ESXi host.
4. The administrator can now access the VM as they would any other VM
residing in the ESXi host.
The administrator can choose to migrate the virtual machine from the
PowerProtect DD NFS share to a datastore within the vCenter using
storage vMotion.
Upon completion, the NFS share is deleted using Avamar Administrator.

Managing Avamar Replication
Avamar Replication Overview
The Avamar replication job copies client backups from the source Avamar
system to an alternate destination31. Replicating backups to an alternate
destination protects against data loss if the source Avamar system fails.
Avamar also provides the option to perform policy-based replication and
command-line replication.
Avamar Replication is the process of logically copying backup data from

one or more source Avamar servers to a destination or target Avamar
server. Replication is configured and run using the AUI and or the Avamar
Administrator and can be scheduled or on-demand. This data is encrypted
during the transmission process. Replication can also integrate an Avamar
system with PowerProtect DD in the source and the destination.
The replication process is initiated from the source Avamar server. If the
data that has been selected for replication includes data that is stored on
the source PowerProtect DD, the source Avamar queries the target
Avamar server to ensure that there is a target PowerProtect DD. The
source Avamar also communicates with the target PowerProtect DD to
ensure that replication is possible.
The source Avamar replicates metadata to the target Avamar while the
source PowerProtect DD sends backup data directly to the target
PowerProtect DD. Since the source Avamar server must communicate
with the target PowerProtect DD, it is not possible to separate the Avamar
and PowerProtect DD traffic onto separate networks. The data is not
staged on the Avamar server.
31The alternate destination can be an environment either having an

Avamar server or an Avamar server that is integrated with the
PowerProtect DD appliance.

Ensure that the target site has an Avamar server that is configured with its
own PowerProtect DD. Be sure that the destination systems have enough
capacity to store all data, especially when multiple systems are replicating
to one.
Prior to setting up any replication, first add replication for each system.
The administrator must set up one or more replication groups that define
the settings and if needed, create a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule.
Go to: For more detailed information, see the Avamar

Administration Guide on Dell Support website.
Warning: If the source PowerProtect DD is used to store

data other than the Avamar backup data, it will not be
replicated. Configure replication for this data separately
through the PowerProtect DD interface.
Replication Types
Policy-Based Replication
Policy-based replication provides greater control of the replication

process.
With policy-based replication, administrators can create replication groups

in the AUI that define the following replication settings:

Avamar Replication Policy
• Replication group members, either domains or clients

• Priority order for replication tasks
• Backups to replicate, based on the retention setting or the backup date
• Maximum number of backups to replicate for each client
• Destination system for the replicas (replication to another Avamar
system, Cloud Tier, or Data Domain system)
• Replication schedule
• Retention of replicas

Command-Line Replication
Perform on-demand replication from the command line by logging in to the

utility node and using the avrepl32 command-line interface (CLI).
The following replication settings are defined by the avrepl command:
• Domains or clients to replicate

• Backups to replicate based on plugin, retention setting, and backup
date
• Maximum number of backups to replicate for each client
• Destination system for the replicas
Avamar to PowerProtect DD Replication
When using a PowerProtect DD appliance as a backup target33, the

replication process also transfers Avamar data from the source
PowerProtect DD to a destination to PowerProtect DD.
The replication process is initiated from the source Avamar server. If the
data selected for replication includes data that is stored on the source
PowerProtect DD, the source Avamar queries the target Avamar server to
ensure that there is a target PowerProtect DD.
32 Account options for the avrepl command enable administrators to

specify credentials to connect to the destination Avamar server for
replication.
33 If a PowerProtect DD is configured with an Avamar server, then there
must be a corresponding PowerProtect DD that is configured with a

destination server. Otherwise, the replication fails for backups that are
stored on the source PowerProtect DD.

Since the source Avamar server must communicate with the target
PowerProtect DD, it is not possible to separate the Avamar and
PowerProtect DD traffic onto separate networks.
Replication34 control belongs to Avamar, however, a PowerProtect DD

replication license is required to enable the copying of data from one
system to another.
Caution: Be sure that the destination systems have

enough capacity to store all data, especially when multiple
systems are replicating to one.
Important: If the source PowerProtect DD is used to store

data other than the Avamar backup data, it will not be
replicated. Configure replication for this data separately
through the PowerProtect DD System Manager.
PowerProtect DD Appliance Destination Settings
In a replication environment with more than one destination PowerProtect

DD, administrators can set the system35 that receives the replicas by
34 Replication is a direct copy and occurs on the Avamar replication

schedules.
35 Users can specify a PowerProtect DD system as a default destination.
The Avamar server replicates to a default destination when a destination

PowerProtect DD system is not identified in the Storage Mapping tab.

mapping a domain on the source Avamar server to a destination

PowerProtect DD system.
Set Default PowerProtect DD Destination
The following steps must be followed in order to set a default

PowerProtect DD destination system:
Edit a Data Domain
1. Log in to the AUI, and click the System pane.

2. Click the Data Domain tab. Click +ADD
3. Scroll down the wizard page to the Misc section, and select the Use
system as default replication storage checkbox. Click VALIDATE.
If the Data Domain system is already listed, select the system and click
Edit.

Map Avamar Domain to the Destination PowerProtect DD
To specify the destination system, a domain should be mapped on the

source Avamar system to a destination PowerProtect DD system. If the
mapping is not done, and then Avamar replicates the data from the source
PowerProtect DD system to the default destination.
If there are multiple destination PowerProtect DD systems, administrators

can control which system receives the data that replicates from the source
PowerProtect DD system.
To map a domain:
Map a domain
1. Log in to the AUI, and navigate to System pane.

2. Click Storage Mapping tab, and click +ADD.

3. Select the PowerProtect DD system from the list to use as replication
target. Click SUBMIT.

Administration Lab.
Replication Destination
Avamar allows administrators the ability to restore the replicated backups

on a destination system using AUI. This method is used when the source
Avamar server is unavailable and the Replicas at Source feature is not
enabled on the source Avamar system.
Replication Destination
The initial step during a policy-based replication is to add a replication

destination. The connection details36 for a supported data storage system
have to be specified.
The Avamar system supports replication to other Avamar systems and to

PowerProtect DD through DD Boost.
36An Avamar system can also replicate to another Avamar system that is
running a different version of the Avamar server software. However, the
best results occur with the same software version.

Avamar Replicated Backups to a Destination System

Restore Replicated Backups the Destination System
Restore Avamar Replicated Backups from Destination System
To restore from destination, perform the following steps:
• From the Asset Management, click the REPLICATE domain and

hostname to view the clients.
• Select the client, click VIEW MORE under Client Summary pane.
• From the backups associated with that client, select the backup and
click RESTORE.
Lab Exercise: For more practice, go the Avamar

Administration Lab.
Setting Up Replication Policies and Schedules

Define a Replication Schedule
The method of scheduling replication tasks depends on the type of

replication that is used. In a policy-based replication, schedules are
defined in a similar way to back up schedules. Start replication after the
majority backups have completed. Replication can be started during the
backup window.
To configure schedules for a policy-based replication, perform the

following steps:
Avamar Replication Schedule
• From Asset Management, click on Setting.

• In the Setting pane, click on Schedule and the click the +ADD.
• Define a schedule for this replication task on a daily, weekly, or
monthly interval.
Administrators can also configure a retention period based on their

environment requirements.
Create a Replication Policy
The replication policy enables administrators the ability to define the

settings for policy-based replication. The replication policy also enables
administrators to perform a scheduled as well as on-demand replication
from source to destination systems.

Administrators create a Replication Policy in a similar way to creating a

Backup Policy.
Replication Policies require the following:
• Members
• Backup Filters
• Schedule
• Retention
• Destination

Administration Lab.
How to Perform and Monitor On-Demand Replication
An on-demand replication is an instant replication job initiation that is

performed by the administrator by running the replication policy.
To run an on-demand replication, perform the following:
Performing an on-demand replication
• Click on Replication Policy.
• Select a replication policy from the list and click RUN.

The on-demand replication is initiated. Navigate to the Activity pane to

view the progress of the replication activity or click on the View Activity
from the Policy <policy name> started successfully.
The Activity window in the AUI enables administrators to view status
information for both on-demand and scheduled replication activity.
Monitoring the replication from the Activity pane
Avamar Data Migration Enabler (ADMe)
Avamar Data Migration enabler (ADMe) is a utility providing automation for

the migration of Avamar backup data to a different storage medium such
as tape, disk, cloud based storage, or to another Avamar and
PowerProtect DD. Backup data is first rehydrated to a staging disk area
into a structured top-level folder layout for organizational purposes.
This can automatically be backed up to a tape backup application as a

standard file system backup or to another Avamar for purposes of placing
the backup data into its PowerProtect DD.

ADMe Compatibilities
ADMe is compatible with all Avamar systems including single or multinode

GRID systems, source or replication target systems, Integration Data
Protection Appliance and those using PowerProtect DD storage.
Some of ADMe capabilities are the following:
• Single point of management.

• No dependency on Avamar when recovering from tape or cloud.37
• Supports migration of backups to public or private cloud storage using
a suitable gateway.
• Results in a cataloged and browsable tape backup.
• Supports file level recoveries directly from tape or cloud storage.
• Supports multiple staging servers and concurrent migration threads per
server.
• Supports incremental and non-incremental migration strategies
Phases of ADMe
The ADMe migration process is consisted of three distinct phases:
• Client Backup Selection Phase: Used to identify which backups to act

on
• Backup Recovery (Staging Phase): Used where backup data is
recovered to a staging disk.
• Export Phase (Optional): Used for external tape backup application or
cloud synchronization
37The only exception to this is that Oracle and PAX file archives. User
need to leverage the Avamar to complete the restores.

The complete end-to-end workflow is automated by ADMe Job Policies

eliminating the need for manual intervention or localized scripting. ADMe
Job policies can be scheduled to run automatically or run an on-demand as
needed.
Tip: When upgrading to a new Avamar system which

relies on PowerProtect DD for storing its backups, there
may be a need to migrate the longer term backups from
the existing Avamar system to the new system.

Exploring Cloud Tier with Avamar
Cloud Tier Overview
The Avamar Cloud Tier feature works in tandem with the PowerProtect
DD Cloud Tier feature to move Avamar backups from PowerProtect DD
series appliances to the cloud. Cloud Tier provides long-term storage of
Avamar backups by seamlessly and securely tiering data to the cloud.
The Avamar User Interface (AUI) allows administrators to configure

Avamar backups to move from the PowerProtect DD active tier to the
cloud tier.
Avamar moves the existing backups that have been marked for tiering to
the new cloud unit, and the PowerProtect DD system triggers data
movement. Avamar marks the backups for tiering while the PowerProtect
DD system triggers data movement. Only backups older than 14 days can
be marked for Cloud Tier data movement.
Important: PowerProtect DD cloud storage units must be

preconfigured on the PowerProtect DD before they are
configured for Cloud Tier in the AUI.
Cloud Tier Configuration
The following steps are performed as part of configuring the Avamar

server to manage the Cloud Tier feature:
Add or Edit a PowerProtect DD with Cloud Tier
To use the Cloud Tier feature on Avamar, enable the Cloud Tier on the
PowerProtect DD system first.

Enabling Cloud Tier
• In the AUI browse to System.

• Select the Data Domain tab.
− Click ADD or Edit
• At the end of the ADD or Edit steps the Enable Cloud Tier option is
selected before clicking Finish.
Add a Cloud Tier Policy
A Cloud Tier policy runs automatically according to schedules that are

created as part of the policy wizard.

Adding a Cloud Tier Policy
• From the navigation pane, click Cloud Tier Policy and click + ADD.
• Follow the steps in the Policy wizard to complete the Cloud Tier
Policy.
Run a Cloud Tier Policy
A Cloud Tier policy runs according to the schedule selected during the
configuration of the Cloud Tier policy.
Administrators can run Cloud Tier policies on demand.

Running a Cloud Tier policy
• In the AUI under Policy, select Cloud Tier Policy.

• There is no requirement for advanced scripting or VMware software
knowledge and no unchanged day-to-day procedures for backup.
• Select the policy.
• Click RUN.

Administration Lab.

Recalling Backups from the Cloud Tier
Cloud Tier recall process
A backup must be recalled to the PowerProtect DD active tier before

Avamar can do a restore in a non-ECS cloud.
The following explains the steps of a recall:

1. Avamar requests the PowerProtect DD to recall a backup from the
Cloud Tier.
2. PowerProtect DD makes a copy of the Cloud Tier38 backup in the
active tier.
3. Avamar has access to the backup in the active tier39, and can perform
the restore.
38 The Cloud Tier is the representation of the size of the storage that is
provided from the supported Cloud Provider.
39 The active tier is the default storage tier that exists when the file system
is created.

Important: The copy of the backup in the active tier is

deleted after ten days by default.

Administration Lab.
File Level Restore for Cloud Tier
Cloud Tier file level restore.
Avamar supports file level (FLR) restore from Elastic Cloud Storage (ECS)
cloud units. When the backups are stored on a non-ECS cloud, the entire
backup needs to be recalled to the PowerProtect DD active tier before
FLR can be performed.

The following is an explanation of Cloud Tier FLR:

1. Avamar requests a file level restore from the Cloud Tier.
2. The entire backup does not have to be recalled to the active tier of the
PowerProtect DD.
3. The Avamar client directly reads the file from the Cloud Tier.
Important: The process of restore from a backup that is

tiered to the ECS cloud unit is identical to normal file or
granular level restore operations.

Administration Lab.

Examine System Maintenance and Monitoring
Avamar Profiles
Managing Profiles
Avamar Administrator Manage Profiles
Avamar provides notifications when any event occurs. Notifications

include:
• Pop-up Alerts
• Acknowledgement-required list
• Email messages
• Syslog files
• SNMP traps
Third-party tools and applications can also be used to monitor and report
on the syslog files and SNMP traps.

Editing System Event Profiles
Edit System Profile
The System Profile contains all possible system event codes. System event
codes can be edited to control whether an event generates a pop-up alert
in Avamar Administrator, an entry in the common unacknowledged events
list, or neither.
Go to: For more information about profiles, see the Dell

Avamar Administration Guide on the Dell Support
website.

Administration Lab.

Creating a Custom Event Profile - Sequencing Activity
Sequencing Activity
Online Sequencing Activity
Sequencing Activity Wrap Up
Notes
Event Management in the AUI
The Event Management pane in the AUI is seen from Event Management
window. Use filters to narrow down the event viewing, and a selection can
be reset of retrieved by dates.

Click the green boxes for more details.
Avamar Event Management review
1: The Event Management offers views for Critical, Error, and Warnings.
2: Filters can be set to narrow down the events. Administrators can use
a date range, Type, and Categories. Selecting the Unacknowledge event only and
then select RETRIEVE.
3: By selecting an event or events from the Event ID column, administrators

can acknowledge them by clicking ACKNOWLEDGE.
Avamar Email Home/ConnectEMC
Avamar uses two systems to automatically send events, alerts, and

system information to Customer Support.

Avamar Administrator ConnectEMC
AUI ConnectEMC
Email Home By default, notification schedule email messages are

sent at 6 a.m. and 3 p.m. each day.

ConnectEMC A standardized application that automatically transfers

event data and product information, such as the serial
number of active utility and storage nodes, from
customer sites to Customer Support. ConnectEMC gets
enabled and configured during the installation of the
Avamar Server.
Disable, Used to test any of these transports and to test any new
Stop, and changes that are made.
Test
Primary ConnectEMC is integrated with Secure Remote Support

Transport (Secure Remote Services). Primary transport can be
Failover configured to use Email, FTP, and HTML communication.
Transport Secure Remote Services gives Customer Support the
Notification ability to provide remote Avamar support.
Transport Clicking the Advanced button opens the settings for Retries,
Timeout, Description, and Email Subject.
Help This can be used at any time to provide more details for
the ConnectEMC feature.
Go to: For more information about ConnectEMC and

Email Home, see the Dell Avamar Administration Guide
on the Dell Support website.
Avamar Checkpoints
A checkpoint (cp) is a read-only snapshot of the Avamar server that is

taken to enable server rollbacks. A rollback restores the Avamar server to
a known good state using data stored in a validated checkpoint. Validation
is performed by running a Hash File System (HFS) check on a checkpoint.
HFS check validates the integrity of a checkpoint by performing a series of

checks on the metadata/backup data. If an HFS check detects errors in

one or metadata/backup data, it automatically attempts to repair them.
The process is similar to the UNIX fsck command. While an HFS check
is being initiated, the server is briefly placed in read-only mode until it
finishes.
Checkpoints are created using hard links to all the metadata/backup

data40. A checkpoint directory is created on each active disk of each
storage node of the Avamar server. The directory contains the stripes on
the disk as they were at the time the checkpoint was taken.
Tip: The cps command can only be run from single-node

server or multi-node server storage nodes. In a multi-node
server environment, administrators must first copy the
cps executable file from the utility node to each storage
node.
Daily Maintenance Checkpoints
By default, a checkpoint is created41 during the Maintenance window. A

second checkpoint is created towards the end of the Maintenance
window after the first checkpoint has been validated.
40 When there is an activity requiring modification of the metadata/backup

data, such as adding new data, the read-only metadata/backup data, is
copied to a writable metadata/backup data. The original metadata/backup
data that is associated with a checkpoint is maintained for the life of the
checkpoint.
41 Checkpoints can also be manually created by the Avamar Administrator
when required. By default, Avamar always retains the last two checkpoints
including the last validated checkpoint.

By default, a rolling HFS check is automatically run once a day, usually

during the period defined by the Maintenance window.
If the Avamar is integrated with a PowerProtect DD, a checkpoint results

in the Avamar mtree snapshot being created.
Checkpoints in AUI
Creating Checkpoints
AUI Create Checkpoint

To view and or create a cp in the Avamar Administrator, go to Navigation >

Server > Checkpoint Management tab, and click Actions > Create Checkpoint.
From the Checkpoint Management window, administrators can see the latest
checkpoint with a question mark to the left. This question mark is a
checkpoint that is not yet validated.
To view and or create a checkpoint (cp) in the AUI, from the left menu
select the Server option. From the Server Management window click on the
Checkpoints tab and click +CREATE.
From the Server Management window, administrators can see the latest
checkpoint with a question mark to the left. This questions mark is a
checkpoint that is not yet validated.
Checkpoint Utilization
Checkpoints Utilization
Checkpoints reside on each storage node on the Avamar server. This

information is used to determine the overhead space of each checkpoint.
The cps command shows the total amount of data in cur directory for
each checkpoint directory on the node in which the command is run. The
cps command can only be run from single-node server or multi-node
server storage nodes. In a multi-node server environment, first copy the
cps executable file from the utility node to each storage node.

Backing Up Avamar Checkpoint
Edit a Data Domain
Avamar has the ability to store Avamar checkpoints42 on an integrated

Data Domain system (with DD OS 5.3 or higher). This is supported only
on single-node and virtual edition Avamar servers.
If there is an issue with the Avamar server, the Avamar checkpoint

backups can also be used for restore. However, it does not provide offline
protection like replication.
Rolling Back a Checkpoint
An Avamar checkpoint is system-wide snapshot of the Avamar server that

is taken for the purpose of Avamar server disaster recovery. In the event
of the Avamar server experiencing data inconsistencies or corruption of its
metadata, a validated checkpoint can be used to restore the Avamar
server to a known good state. This process is called rollback
42If a disaster were to occur and the Avamar server is destroyed, the
checkpoint data can be restored.

Performing a Rollback
To rollback to a specific checkpoint:
• Load the admin ssh keys.

1. su - admin
2. ssh-agent bash
3. ssh-add ~/.ssh/admin_key Enter password if
prompted
• Run dpnctl stop
To start the rollback, run:
• Run: rollback.dpn --cptag=cp.datetime >& filename
− cp.datetime name of a checkpoint
− filename: user-defined file to hold the rollback log information
Forced Rollbacks
If a data server (gsan) did not shut down correctly, dpnctl prompts for a
rollback upon restart. A rollback can also be forced using the--
force_rollback option in dpnctl start.
• Always, rollback to a validated checkpoint

• To obtain a list of current checkpoints, run cplist

cplist command
dpnctl start --force_rollback

command
Considerations
The following exceptions need to be considered.
• If there has been a change in the password, it has to be updated in the

/usr/local/avamar/etc/usersettings.cfg file of the
checkpoint to be restored.
• Contact Dell Support if nodes were added since the last checkpoint.

Tip: These steps are more commonly used with the

physical Avamar systems
Go to: For more information about rollbacks, see the Dell

Avamar Administration Guide on the Dell Support
website.
Avamar Monitoring
Avamar provides several ways to monitor backup, restore, replication, and

tiering activities to report on backup status, and to manage backups.

Activity pane
From the AUI the activity displays the following:

• Allows administrators to monitor backup, restore, backup-validation,
and replication activity
• Detailed log of a client session for analysis and troubleshooting
• Filter activities by duration: By default, the Activity tab displays the
most recent 5,000 client activities. To select a different duration, in
the Filter activities by duration drop-down list, select the last 24 hours
or Last 72 hours.
• Filter activities by domain: By default, the Activity tab displays all
activities regardless of domain. To display only the activities for a
specific domain, in the Filter activities by domain drop-down list,
select a domain or subdomain.
• Filter activities by status, by default, the Activity tab displays all
activities regardless of status.

Tip: In the AUI, the Fitness Analyzer offers more in-

depth details for Policy, Replication Policy, Backup, Client,
Resources, Metadata, System Utilization, Proxy summary, and
Reports.
Activity Monitoring
By default, the Activity Monitor tab displays the most recent 5,000 client
activities during the past 24 to 72 hours. Administrators can increase or
reduce the amount of information in the Activity Monitor by editing the
mcserver.xml file located:
/usr/local/avamar/var/mc/server_data/prefs/mcserver.xm
l
Modifying the mcserver.xml file requires the stopping of the MCS

process, then starting it after edits have been made. This can be done
with the dpnctl stop and dpnctl start command on the Avamar
server.
AUI Activity View

The Activity view offers the following:
VIEW JOBS Shows the details of the client backup and restores.
Administratorss can also choose to download and send
to support.
Filter by Allows the view to be All, Last 72 hours, and Last 24

duration hours.
Status Shows status of backup, restores, or validation activity.

These are Error Code, Start Time, Elapse Time, End Time,
Type, Server, Progress Bytes and New Bytes.
Details In the window administratorss can get the details for the
client, name, domain, operating system, client release,
and proxy.
Server Monitoring
The Avamar Administrator Server view is a primary system status

monitoring tool. The Server Monitor tab presents a summarized view of
CPU, network, and hard drive performance statistics for each node. The
Server Monitor tab on the Server window in Avamar Administrator includes
separate tabs for the Avamar server and any configured PowerProtect DD
appliances.
Avamar Administrator Server Monitor
In the Server window the tabs that are offered are Server Monitor, Server
Management, Session Monitor, Checkpoint Management, and Data Domain NFS
Data Stores.

Data This tab provides the CPU, disk activity, and network activity
Domain for each node on the PowerProtect DD appliance. If the
status is yellow or red, administratos can view additional
status information to determine and resolve the problem.
Node In the Avamar tab the Node details are the following:
• Online (green is functioning correctly).
• Read-Only (blue means backups have been suspended
and normal backgrounded operations are taking place).
• Time-Out (gray is the MCS cannot communicate).
• Unknown (yellow is the Node status cannot be determined).
• Offline (red is the node has a problem and if setup a
Service Request (SR) is logged).
CPU In the Avamar tab, the details of the CPU are the following:
• Load: Avamar number of CPU threads over the past
minute.
• User: Percentage of CPU capacity that is consumed by
running server instructions (anything other than operating
system overhead).
• Sys: Percentage of CPU capacity that is consumed by the
operating system overhead.
Network In the Avamar tab, the Network details are Ping, In, and Out.
Disk In the Avamar tab, the Disk details are the following:
• Reads: Average number of hard drive reads per second as
reported by the operating system.
• Writes: Average number of hard drive writes per second
as reported by the operating system.
• Utilization: Percentage of total available server storage
capacity currently used.

System Management
From the left menu, select System, and click Server Management. In this
view, administrators can review Checkpoints, Backup Window, Garbage
Collection, and Services.
AUI System Management
Some of the options in the System window are the following:
Checkpoints Displays the latest checkpoints that have been validated

(green checkmark) and unvalidated (red question mark).
Backup Displays the Backup and maintenance window duration

Window periods. Administrators can edit the Window start time (24
hours), Duration, and Time Zone.
Garbage Displays the information about the last garbage collection.

Collection The garbage collection history provides an overall view of
past garbage collections and display a graphical chart.

Services Services provides details for Core services and Additional

services. The BACKUP GROUP SCHEDULER
STATE and MAINTENANCE SCHEDULER STATE can be
changed from either Suspend or Resume.
The Additional services pane the details of the services
running or not running are displayed.
Backup and Maintenance Windows
Avamar performs the system-maintenance operations for backup data on

the PowerProtect DD including HFS checks, checkpoints, rollbacks, and
garbage collection.
The three important maintenance activities are:
• Garbage collection
• Checkpoints
• HFS checks
Backup Window defines a period when the server does not perform any
maintenance activities, including checkpoint, garbage collection, and
checkpoint validation.
The Backup Window is that portion of each day reserved to perform normal
scheduled backups. By default the Backup window begins at 8 p.m. local
server time and continues uninterrupted for 12 hours until 8 a.m.
Administrators can customize the Backup Window start time and duration.
The Maintenance Window is reserved for performing routine server

maintenance activities. This includes garbage collection, asynchronous
crunching, a checkpoint, and checkpoint validation. A second checkpoint
is taken and not validated during the Maintenance Window.
When Avamar is integrated with PowerProtect DD, the space is not

reclaimed until PowerProtect DD runs its maintenance activities, which run
on a different schedule..

If the Avamar is not integrated with the PowerProtect DD, the garbage
collection runs once daily starting at the beginning of the Maintenance
Window.
1: The Window start time can be customized around the scheduled

backups, and does not automatically coordinate with the various backup
schedules. May require manual adjustment if there are any conflicts with
the backup schedule.

2: The Duration can be customized, and does not automatically coordinate

with various backup schedules. Any changes may require a manual
adjustment if there is any conflict with backup schedules.

3: Time Zone can be changed as needed for the scheduling of the

Backup/Maintenance window.

Important: Any backup or administrative activities should

be minimized during the Maintenance Window.
Impacts of Maintenance Activities and Backups
Avamar minimizes the impact of maintenance activities on backups by

internally managing the maintenance activities according to the
operational windows.
When the system is in a read-only state (during checkpoint and garbage

collection), these system administration tasks cannot be performed:
• Adding, editing, or deleting a user, client or domain.

• Deleting a backup.
• Changing a backup retention.
• No other maintenance jobs can start.
The following table shows the operational impact on backups:
Operations Impact on Backups
Checkpoint • No other maintenance jobs can start.

• All backup orders are queued until checkpoint
completes.
Garbage • No other maintenance jobs can start.

Collection • New backups are queued.

HFS Checks
• Garbage collection cannot start. All other maintenance
jobs, such as checkpoint, replication, can start.
• All backup work orders are queued until the HFS has
started.
• New backups are queued.
Backups Checkpoints can start, suspending backups while the

checkpoint is running.
Impacts of Maintenance Activities on PowerProtect DD
Avamar performs the system-maintenance operations for backup data on

the PowerProtect DD system, including HFS checks, checkpoints,
rollbacks, and garbage collection.
Avamar runs maintenance every day for 12 hours43, it communicates the

same to PowerProtect DD as well. PowerProtect DD does not run any
maintenance on a daily basis, only cleaning weekly. On a daily basis, it
moves the data to /DELETED directory under its cur directory under the
Avamar Mtree. By default, on Tuesday when PowerProtect DD runs
cleaning, it clears the entire /DELETED directory. Recoveries of backups
are not possible after hashes are deleted from Avamar, and the space is
reclaimed from PowerProtect DD only after weekly cleaning is successful.
When Avamar and PowerProtect DD are integrated, the data on

PowerProtect DD has to match the metadata on Avamar; the sync
43 During this 12-hour period Garbage Collection runs 3 hours, the other
time is spent on checkpoints and HFS checks. If the HFS check completes
before the 12-hour window, the maintenance completes.

between Avamar and PowerProtect DD is critical in terms of data and

metadata.
Avamar and PowerProtect DD operations that are impacted are:
Operations Impacts on Backups
Garbage GC runs daily and identifies hashes that have expired

Collection and hashes from canceled or failed backups. At same
(GC) time the hashes are sent to the PowerProtect DD to
clear the corresponding data.
Checkpoint Avamar creates a checkpoint, then the PowerProtect DD

takes a snapshot44 of the entire directory /CUR.
HFS Check HFS verifies the integrity of the data.
The ddrmaint utility obtains and sets information about PowerProtect DD

server for maintenance. The ddrmaint utility is installed on the utility node
of a multi-node server, or the single node of a single-node server, during
Avamar server installation. The ddrmaint utility is not installed on the data
nodes of the Avamar server.
Important: The ddrmaint utility is installed on the utility

node of a multinode Avamar server, or a single node
Avamar server. This utility is not installed on any data
storage nodes.
44
In the event of a rollback on Avamar, the cp allows the PowerProtect
DD to run a fast copy operation of that snapshot back to its point in time.

Analyze Avamar Capacity
Avamar Server Capacity Definitions
Storage subsystem (GSAN) capacity is the total amount45 of commonality

factored data and RAIN parity data on each data partition of the server
node. The GSAN process measures and reports this amount.
New bytes are added to the Avamar server through the backup process.
Old bytes are removed from the server through expiring or deleting
backups. An administrator can control the reported capacity with the
following:
• Change the dataset definitions, retention policies, or clients the

Avamar server backs up.
• Verify that garbage collection is running daily.
The GSAN changes behavior as the various capacities increase. The

following table describes the behavior of key capacity thresholds.
Threshold Default Capacity Behavior

Values Used for
Comparison
Capacity This default GSAN The Management

Warning value is 80% Console Server issues a
of read-only warning event when the
threshold. GSAN capacity exceeds
80% of the read-only
limit.
45 This amount is net after garbage collection.

Health This default GSAN If the GSAN capacity

Check Limit value is 95% reaches the healthcheck
of read-only limit, the Avamar server
threshold. allows existing backups
to complete, and
suspends all new backup
activity. Avamar sends a
notification as an open
alert and these alerts
must be acknowledge
before the system can
resume activities.
Server This default GSAN The Avamar server

Read-Only value is 100% transitions to read-only
Limit of read-only state to prevent the
threshold, addition of new data.
which is set to Administrators can view
a percentage the utilization value on
of the the Server Management
available hard tab in the AUI. The value
drive capacity. that is reported
represents the average
utilization relative to the
read-only threshold.
System too This default Internal The GSAN determines

Full to value is 85% GSAN that the space available
Perform GC of available on any data partition on
hard drive any node exceeds the
capacity. disknogc configuration
threshold, a garbage
collection operation will
not run. The operation
fails with an error
message
MSG_ERR_DISKFULL.

If the operating system view of capacity utilization exceeds 85%, the

garbage collection process stops running. As checkpoints roll off, garbage
collection resumes until the operating system view once again exceeds
85%.
At this level Dell Support is required and will perform the following:
• Check for extraneous directories and files on each node.

• Reduce the number of checkpoints that are retained.
− Always retain at least two most recent.

− Delete the oldest checkpoint.
Best Practice: Dell Technologies recommends monitoring the

storage capacity and maintenance jobs on the Avamar server
on a daily basis.

Operational Best Practices Guide on Dell Support.

Avamar Server Lifecycle
Example of steady-state
A newly deployed Avamar system typically fills rapidly for the first few
weeks. Almost every client being backed up contains large amount of
unique data. Avamar commonality feature is not leveraged until several
similar clients have been backed up or if the same clients have been
backed up at least one time.
Once each client has been backed up a “settling” occurs. Now, it is

possible to consider and measure the ability of the system to store new
data each day as it frees during the maintenance windows.
This is also known as achieving a steady state of capacity utilization.

Achieving this state is especially important for Avamar single nodes.
Single nodes cannot be increased in size. Achieving steady-state capacity
utilization is also important for multinode servers to minimize the number
of additional nodes that are required to manage the capacity.
Using the capacity.sh Utility
The capacity.sh utility provides the net rate of change in the Avamar
system for each day over a period of the last two weeks. The
capacity.sh also identifies the clients with the highest change rate.

Example of capacity.sh output
This information is used to assess whether the system is running in steady

state, including the average rate of change in the environment and the
effectiveness of garbage collection.
Some useful commands include the following:
Command Action
capacity.sh –-days=20 –- Checks the capacity of the

top=20 storage over the last 20 days for
the top 20 clients.
capacity.sh --days=20 -- Checks the capacity of the

top=10 --domain=ddr storage over the last 20 days for
the top 10 clients in
PowerProtect DD.

Important: If the capacity.sh script is not available,

Dell Support can add it.
Monitoring Capacity with Integrated PowerProtect DD
Monitoring capacity on an Avamar integrated with PowerProtect DD series

appliance as the storage target does not give capacity warnings through
the Avamar. A user will not know if the PowerProtect DD has reached
capacity unless they are actively monitoring the PowerProtect DD.
Capacity is monitored either from the Avamar AUI or in the Data Domain
System Manager.
Avamar AUI Dashboard View
Use the AUI dashboard to view the Capacity of the PowerProtect DD and
the GSAN.
• The capacity on the AUI dashboard shows total capacity.

− Capacity (Total)
− Space Left
• If Cloud Tier is enabled on Avamar, the capacity space that is used
and space available is combined with the active tier. In order to see the
capacities of individual tiers the PowerProtect DD System Manager UI
or PowerProtect DD CLI must be used.
Monitoring PowerProtect DD Capacity on Avamar Using Simple

Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
Avamar collects and displays data for health monitoring, system alerts,
and capacity reports for the PowerProtect DD system by using SNMP
protocols.

• The Data Domain tab in the Server Monitor provides Server Utilization,
Total Capacity, and File System Used for the PowerProtect DD.
• Avamar checks the capacity of the PowerProtect DD system every 24
hours. Avamar logs an event in the Event Monitor if the capacity reaches
95% full.
Monitoring from the PowerProtect DD System Manager UI

(DDSM)
To see the Active Tier and Cloud Tier space usage separately, the DDSM or
the PowerProtect DD CLI must be used.
• In the DDSM browse DataManagement > File System > Summary

• In the Summary, the Active Tier and Cloud Tier are shown in separate
tiers.
Important: The PowerProtect DD capacity that is shown

in Avamar does not separate Active Tier and Cloud Tier.
High Capacity on Integrated PowerProtect DD
When the PowerProtect DD reaches capacity, an integrity alert appears in

the AUI.
Alerts on Avamar
Avamar does not send alerts about the capacity of the PowerProtect DD.
When capacity is full, the following alerts are sent from the Avamar.
• The data integrity issue alert appears when an HFScheck could not be
performed.
• MSG_ERR_DDR appears when Avamar maintenance fails due to space
issues. This message will appear in the Events window.

Full Capacity Behavior
When a PowerProtect DD is full, the following behaviors are seen:
• Backups and replication fail

• Garbage collection cannot run
• HFS checks fail
• Capacity alerts on the PowerProtect DD

Explore Avamar Reporting Tools
Avamar Fitness Analyzer Overview
The Avamar Fitness Analyzer is a reporting and analysis portal that

provides a visual representation of server health and functionality. Reports
that are generated by the Fitness Analyzer help administrators
troubleshoot issues and optimize system performance.
Fitness Analyzer allows administrators to dive deep into preferred areas of

analysis. Apart from creating the reports using predefined workflows, the
tool focuses on a subsequent analysis based on preceding steps.
Fitness Analyzer reporting addresses multiple areas that include:
• Maintenance and backup window optimization

• Capacity utilization
• Replication performance
• Job completion times
• Proxy utilization
• Policy and client organization
• Troubleshooting system health and configuration issues
Tip: Fitness Analyzer also works with existing

Management Console Server (MCS) reporting functions
to provide old reports that were available through Avamar
Administrator.

Fitness Analyzer Guide on the Dell Support website.

Fitness Analyzer Overview and Header
Administrators typically start with a review of the top-level graph of server

health and activity on the Overview pane. Use the graph to identify any
prominent trends, abnormalities, or areas of further interest.
Administrators can access the Fitness Analyzer from the AUI or by

pointing a web browser to https://<AvamarServer>/eagleeye.
Overview Pane
The Fitness Analyzer Overview pane presents a graphical timeline of recent

server activity for a maximum of one week of data.
Timeline Identifies areas of interest, such as high traffic, delayed

backups or replication jobs, and interference between
backup activities and server maintenance. The summaries
in the navigation pane provide a breakdown of the trends
indicated here.
Legend Legends, which are situated below the timeline, identify

each data series and the type of activity. Legends interpret
graphical, color-coded data in the timeline.
Server Fitness Analyzer marks important server health events,

Health such as checkpoint creation and validation, and garbage
collection, as vertical lines that correspond to the start and
finish times of the event.
Flag Flags are bubbles on the timeline that contain a number

and a character. These values identify important events for
specific data series. For example, 1G indicates that a
backup group started at that time, or 1R indicates that a
replication group started at that time.

Scale By default, the timeline contains one day of data. A Scale

that is placed below the timeline enables the administrator
to view data for other time periods of time. The Zoom
control above the timeline can be used to view information
from different set of dates.
Bytes The Bytes view toggle button, at the top-right corner of the
View timeline, changes the display units for the horizontal axis to
Gigabytes, so the timeline represents the amount of raw
data that is transferred to the Avamar server. This view
distinguishes the relative impact of each group on the
server.
Limitations
The Fitness Analyzer has limitations in the following areas:
• Reports and summaries do not show active, running jobs. These jobs
appear in the reports and summaries after completion.
• During the initial creation of each pane, Fitness Analyzer may take
slightly longer than usual to display results. Subsequent views use
cached data.
• Results are cached for approximately 15 minutes from their creation
time. Moving away from a pane and then back, the data may not
regenerate until the cache expires.
• When there are more than 500 backup activities per day, some of the
reports that display backup activities over the default timeline reporting
of seven days may take several minutes to display data or, in extreme
cases, may become unresponsive. To avoid this situation, reduce the
number of days of data that are displayed in the timeline reporting
period to limit the report to 3000 backup activities.

Fitness Analyzer Reports
Example of Reports pane
Fitness Analyzer reports are snapshots of different aspects of the server

at particular points in time. The Fitness Analyzer portal includes the
predefined activity, capacity, client, and system reports that are available
from Avamar Administrator and MCS, plus two new reports.
• Pending Replication: Shows the number of backups and the amount of

primary data that are awaiting scheduled replication.
• Avamar - Capacity Report: Shows the daily changes in capacity usage,
such as new data backed up to the Avamar subsystem, and capacity
freed by garbage collection.
Generate Reports
Use the following are the steps to generate a report:

GENERATE a report
1. Select a type of report from the table on the Reports pane.

2. If the report requires start and end dates to be generated, select
appropriate values from the From Date and To Date fields.
3. Click the GENERATE button.
4. Select a report format from the drop-down
Accessing Reports
After the report is generated, the finished report becomes available in the
Completed Reports panel.
DOWNLOAD a report
• To retrieve a completed report:

1. Select the report from the list in the Completed Reports panel.
2. Click the DOWNLOAD button.
• To remove a report:
1. Select the report from the list in the Completed Reports panel.
2. Click the DELETE button.
• To view reports of a specific type, select the required type from the list
in the reports pane. Similar reports appear in the Completed Reports
panel.


Fitness Analyzer Guide on the Dell Support website.
Fitness Analyzer Summaries
The data summarized in the navigation pane focus on individual aspects

of the top-level server history as presented on the Overview pane.
Most summaries contain several different levels of reporting breakdown

and graphical analysis, such as data tables, charts, and timelines, to help
adminstrators identify areas for action.
The Overview pane offers the following summaries:
Group Summary
The Group summary tab presents the Group summary report.
The details of the summaries are the following:
• Summary of activities of a group.

• Tabular chart that lists performance statistics.
• Information about client and plugins in that activity. Information
includes the client name and domain, plugin name, start and
completion times, duration, amount of data transferred, and result
codes.
• Backup Timeline tab shows start and stop times of activities.
• Groups Timeline tab shows scheduled start and stop times of activities.
Replication Summary
The Replication summary pane provides statistics about the performance of

replication jobs.

• Presents an overview of replication group activities within the reporting

period.
• The Not Replicated column identifies the number of backups for which
replication is still pending.
Client Summary
The Client summary pane provides statistics that summarize the behavior
and attributes of individual Avamar clients.
• View History page opens to the Statistics tab. The Statistics tab contains
two panels:
− Tabular Report: Display all the recorded client activities over the
duration of the reporting period.
− Graphical Report: A graphical report that breaks down the completion
codes for each job in the tabular report.
• The Backup Timeline tab shows start and stop times of the client
activities.
Proxy Summary
The Proxy summary pane summarizes the performance of entities within a

vCenter environment. The two tabs that are offered are the following:
• Proxy Summary: Offers a high-level overview and statistics of

activities in virtual environments within the reporting period. The
tabular chart lists performance statistics, such as the numbers of
known VMs, containers, VMs within containers, proxies, and
automatically discovered VMs, in each vCenter.
• Proxy Timeline: Offers a graphical report that plots the scheduled
start and stop times for each activity in the virtual environment within
the reporting period. The timeline displays proxy servers and
associated activities in a selected vCenter.

Backup Summary
The Backup summary pane provides statistics that summarize the results of
individual backups on the server. The tabs that are offered are the
following:
• Status Codes: This presents a top-level summary of backups, which

are sorted based on result codes, within the reporting period.
• Error Codes: This presents a top-level summary of backups based on
error codes within the reporting period. Fitness Analyzer displays a
table with a summary of each backup, including the client, plugin,
domain and group, backup type, start and stop times, and related error
codes.
• History: This displays a table with a summary of each backup,
including the client, plugin, domain and group, backup type, start and
stop times, and result codes.
System Summary
The System summary pane provides a detailed breakdown of the server

configuration. The configuration tree provides access to the following:
System Provides descriptive values that apply to the entire

Information Avamar server, such as the number of nodes,
system ID, and hostname.
Network Provides configuration values for the Avamar server

Configuration backup network interface. For multinode servers,
these values are for the utility node. The detailed
node summaries provide more granular information.
Software Provides version information for different Avamar

Versions subsystems.
License Provides a breakdown of the Avamar licensing

Information information, including capacity.

Schedule of Displays the start times for the backup and

Operations maintenance windows, with the associated time
zones.
Additional Provides the configuration status of additional

Avamar Services Avamar features, including whether this server is
configured to replicate data or send email-home
reports.
Miscellaneous Provides the configuration status for monitoring

Services interfaces, such as SNMP.
Detailed Node Provides a detailed breakdown of server status and

Information configuration by node, including hardware platform,
model, part, and serial numbers, network
configuration, operating system version, and logical
node number.
Tip: The summary and related details provide enough

information to identify possible root causes, aid with
server optimization, or serve as direction for more
troubleshooting with Customer Support.
Running Report with Avamar Administrator
The Avamar Administrator tool generates reports for several of the

administrator server database views.

Avamar Administrator New Reports
To create a report:
1. Select Manage All Reports under Tools.

2. Select the domain and click New.
3. In the New Report window, enter the details46 needed, click OK.
Tip: If the report is intended to be sent as an email

notification, create the report at the root domain level.
46 These necessary details are name, title, and description of the report.
Select the Report View from the drop-down list, and set filter options. After
clicking OK, the Report Name is listed under the selected domain in
Manage All Reports.

Go to: For more information about reports, see the Dell

Avamar Reports Guide on the Dell Support website.
Using Third-Party Reporting Tools with Avamar

Administrator
The Avamar administrator can also use any third-party PostgreSQL-

compliant Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) database reporting tool
that runs on the platform.
Create New Data Source
The Avamar server uses a PostgreSQL database to store the data. The
following are some of the details:

New Data Source PostgreSQL
• ODBC includes Crystal Reports, Microsoft Query, and Microsoft Excel.

Administrators can also access the information with a local or remote
psql tool.

• Filename of Administrator server database: mcdb

• The mcdb is located in:
/usr/local/avamar/var/mc/server_data/postgres
Database Views
MCS database views define the types of information accessible from the
Avamar Administrator. Shown below are some of the supported database
views:
Database Views Description
v_groups Contains a record of each group that is known to

the MCS
v_group_members Contains a record of each client that is organized

by group assignment
v_retention Contains a record of each retention policy that is

policies known to the MCS
v_schedules_2 Contains a record of each schedule that is known

to the MCS
v_node_util Contains a record of node statistics that are

retrieved or calculated per node at a particular date
and time
v_node_space Contains a record of disk capacity data that are

retrieved or calculated per disk, and per node
Accessing Database Views with PSQL
Data in PostgreSQL database on the Avamar server is accessed using

psql:

psql mcdb
1. Log in to PostgreSQL as administrator.

2. To log in using psql, type psql -p 5555 mcdb.
3. Other useful commands include:
\d Displays all
tables and
views
\d v_groups Shows
columns in
tables
\o /tmp/sample_report_output Redirect
output to a file
Accessing Database Views with Microsoft Query
Microsoft Query is used to access the administrator server database and

prepare reports with the information from database views.

Import data from ODBC
Set up the PostgreSQL ODBC driver on a Windows client. The

parameters for PostgreSQL are:
• Data Source: MCDatabase

• Database: mcdb
• Server: <avamar server name>, where <avamar server name> is the
hostname of the Avamar server
• Port: 5555
• Administrators Name: viewuser
• Password: Configured during Avamar installation
In Microsoft Excel, select Data > Get Data > From Other Sources >
From Microsoft Query, and select MCDatabase as the data source.

Go to: For more information about reports, see the Dell

Avamar Reports Guide on the Dell Support website.

Examine Troubleshooting and Logs
Challenges When Managing Backups
Possible situations that may block a successful backup are the following:
Errors Possible Causes
Network Network issues that interrupt the connection can cause

Errors backup failures.
Client I/O Input/output errors on the client can lead to incomplete

Errors backups as some data is left behind.
High Client High client activity levels can prevent files from being
Activity backed up or backed up in the backup window. These
tasks have Completed with Exceptions as their status.
Operator Certain operator actions, such as rebooting or canceling,

Actions cause backup failures.
Incorrect Backup failures are caused by incorrect or incomplete

Input dataset definitions and retention periods.
Disconnected Data from client machines that may be disconnected

Client from the network can lead to incomplete backups.
Managing Backups Successfully
The following actions help reduce errors and perform successful backups:

Activity View
Action Description
Monitor Daily Regularly review the Activity window and other backup
Activities activity reports to ensure healthy backups.
Resolve Any Do not ignore exceptions and failures, as it may lead

Exceptions to missing files or data. Check for the following
exceptions.
• Completed with Exceptions: The message indicates
that the backup is complete with files missing.
• Timed Out- End: The status requires special
attention. This indicates a large amount of activity
without any backup data being restored.
• Dropped Session: The status indicates that the
activity was forcefully canceled.
− Client reboot
− More than an hour of communication outage
• Completed: The status indicates that backup was
completed as per defined policies. Ensure that the
policies are defined correctly.

Schedule Ensure that the maintenance activities are scheduled

Maintenance so that they do not overlap with backup activities.
Activities
Possible Client Initialization Issues
Initial backups can be large and may lead to issues with client
initialization. Potential issues include:
Time-Out
If the initial backups are larger than daily backups, initial backups time out
at the end of the backup window that is configured to meet daily backup
requirements. Some errors administrators may see are as follows:
• Overtime must be enabled so initial backups do not time out.

• Partial backups may be created on the server due to timed out
backups. The Avamar completes the partial backups during
subsequent scheduled backups.
• Timed Out status indicates that the client failed to start within the
window. The client is likely to be offline during the backup window
which resulted in this status.
• Timed Out status indicates that the backup started during the window
but did not complete. A partial backup is created.
Network Issues
Initial backups may fail due to network issues in the customer

environment, and manual interventions. Some of these manual
interventions are the following:
• Available WAN bandwidth might limit the backup throughput of large

initial backups that run for long time.
• To perform initial backups across a LAN connection, seed the Avamar
server with the remote client data over a local connection.

• If the backup ends abruptly, partial backups may not be saved. Dell
Technologies recommends breaking the backup into smaller datasets
to avoid such situations.
• Always run a ping test between server and client to validate any
network connectivity issues.
Avamar getlogs Utility
Example of getlogs command
The Avamar server has server log files that may help an administrator
troubleshoot an Avamar server.
By default, the Avamar storage process log file (gsan.log) is limited to

25 MB in size and always contains the most recent information. Additional
historic log files (for example, gsan.log.1, gsan.log.2, and so forth)
might also exist. Administrators can collect and view these log files by
using command-line operations.
The output of the getlogs script is a single tar file that contains the
compressed logs from all nodes.

Client Logs
Client logs on the client machine provide information about the backup
and restore operations.
Client Log Locations
Depending on the platform, client logs are located in the following

directories:
Avamar Windows client logs
• Windows
Work order: %SystemDrive%\Program Files\avs\var\clientlogs\
Agent: %SystemDrive%\Program Files\avs\var\
Console: %APPDATA%\Avamar\
• Linux and Mac
Work order: /usr/local/avamar/clientlogs

Agent: /var/avamar/
Linux: $HOME/

Mac: $HOME/.avamardata/
Avtar Logs
The avtar logs are labeled: <backup_label>-<plugin>.log. Listed below are

the formats of a few of the logs:
• Scheduled backups:
− <Schedule name>-<Group name>-<Unix time in msec>
• Ad hoc group or client backups using a defined group policy:
− <Group name>-<Unix time in msec>
• Ad hoc backups that are performed through Backup and Restore:
− MOD-<Unix time in msec>
− MOD stands for Management On Demand

• Ad-hoc backups performed through the Avamar Backup Now client
interface on Windows clients
− COD-<Unix time in msec>
− COD stands for Client On Demand

• Command-line executions of avtar: avtar.log or specify a log file
name with --logfile
cid.bin
The cid.bin file is essential for the client to communicate with the Avamar
server.

Avamar Windows client cid.bin
• This file is located in the installation location /var on the client machine.
− Windows: C: \Program Files\avs\var

− Linux: /usr/local/avamar/var
The cid.bin file contains the following:
• Name of the Avamar server

• Client ID (CID)
• UNIX time of the creation of the file
Miscellaneous Logs
Other logs that may must be examined are the following:
• Work order logs: Provide detailed information about a specific task.

• avagentlogs: Provide information about the status of all backup and

restore activities.
• avscc logs: Provide information about the performance of the user
interface.
MCS and CRON Logs
The Management Console Server (MCS) database is read-only access

and is intended for reporting or query purposes. Avamar stores the server
data a PostgreSQL database management system in a file mcdb on the
utility node in the
/usr/local/avamar/var/mc/server_data_postgres directory.
This file is backed up and can be used to restore the MCS in case of
failure.
Avamar server logs include mcserver.log*,flush.log*,and

restore.log. Administrator server logs are located in
/usr/local/avamar/var/mc/server_log on the utility node.
Logs for activities run the cron include health_check.log and replicate.log.
The logs for activities are located in /usr/local/avamar/var/cron on
the utility node.
Use the following activity to look at server logs.
The web version of this content contains an interactive activity.
Use the following activity to look at cron logs.
The web version of this content contains an interactive activity.

Maintenance Activity Logs
The avmaint and dumpmaintlogs commands allow the administrator to

view the contents of the otherwise hidden /sysinfo/log directory. The
avmaint and dumpmaintlogs commands must be used to view these logs,
since the directory, /sysinfo/log, is not available to the regular file
system.
Checkpoint, HFS check, and garbage collection are in the persistent store
in /sysinfo/log.
The following are some example of these commands:
• To create a file containing checkpoint logs for February 2022:

− avmaint cat /sysinfo/log/2022/02/cp >
cpfeb2022.log
• To create a file containing garbage collection activity of the previous
day:
− dumpmaintlogs --days=1 --types=gc >
gcyesterday.log
• To view HFS activity from April 2022:
− avmaint cat /sysinfo/log/2022/04/hfscheck | view

-

Appendix
Garbage Collection
Garbage Collection Summary
Garbage collection is the process of removing unused chunks from

backups that have expired, freeing up capacity on the Avamar server.
Types of backup data that may be deleted during garbage collection
include expired backups, deleted backups, and partial backups47 older
than seven days.
47A partial backup is when a backup did not complete in a backup window
or had errors during a scheduled backup.

Glossary
Asynchronous
Asynchronous crunching is a process that reorganizes data inside stripe
files to eliminate empty spaces created by garbage collection.
Avamar Server
An Avamar server is a logical grouping of one or more nodes that are
used to store and manage client backups. The server also provides
processes and services that are required for client access and remote
system administration.
Change Block Tracking (CBT)

CBT backs up only the blocks that have changed, rather than backing up
every block of every VM in the infrastructure.
Critical Disk
A critical disk is defined as one that contains operating system files or
application services. Dell Technologies recommends any application data,
such as database or Exchange files, be on a separate disk.
EMT
The Avamar EM Tomcat server (EMT) provides essential services that are
required to display, and work with Avamar server.information. The EMT
communicates directly to the MCS and is required for all Avamar systems.
GSAN
Global Storage Area Network, also known as the Avamar server
subsystem. The GSAN process communicates with the Avamar clients.
LDAP Map
LDAP map is an association between an LDAP user group and an Avamar
domain and role.
MCDB

The MCDB is the MCS database file, and it is only located on the utility
node (usr/local/avamar/var/mc/server_data/postgres. This file is used for
restoring the MCS in case of failure. The MCS database is intended for
read-only access for reporting or query purposes. Do not manually modify
any data in mcdb tables unless instructed to do so by Avamar Support.
MCS
The Avamar MCS (Management Console Server) provides centralized
management including scheduling of backups, restore of backups,
monitoring and reporting. When administrators open the Avamar User
Interface, they are interacting with the MCS.
MCS
Provides centralized administration (scheduling, monitoring, and
management) for the Avamar server.
PostgreSQL
PostgreSQL is an open-source Relational Database management System
(RDMS). Avamar uses the PostgreSQL to store data. The information in
the Avamar database is accessible through any PostgreSql compliant
ODBC interface.


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DELL AVAMAR ADMINISTRATION

© Copyright 2023 Dell Inc Page 2

Examine Avamar Backup Client Software 25

Exploring Avamar Account Management 42

Managing Avamar Backups 77

Dell Avamar Administration-SSP

© Copyright 2023 Dell Inc Page 3

Examine Avamar and PowerProtect DD Integration 100

Managing Avamar Restores 112

Exploring VMware Backups and Restores 121

Managing Avamar Replication 138

Dell Avamar Administration-SSP

© Copyright 2023 Dell Inc Page 4

Exploring Cloud Tier with Avamar 153

Examine System Maintenance and Monitoring 160

Analyze Avamar Capacity 185

Explore Avamar Reporting Tools 193

Dell Avamar Administration-SSP

© Copyright 2023 Dell Inc Page 5

Examine Troubleshooting and Logs 209

Dell Avamar Administration-SSP

© Copyright 2023 Dell Inc Page 6

Dell Avamar Administration-SSP

© Copyright 2023 Dell Inc Page 7

In addition, the redundant data is identified at the source, meaning that

Avamar is a comprehensive backup and recovery solution addressing

Dell Avamar Administration-SSP

© Copyright 2023 Dell Inc Page 8

Global Data deduplication is a process that looks for

Minimal Scalable server architecture or virtual appliance

Centralized Avamar Administrator and Avamar User Interface

Scalable Extra storage nodes added to an Avamar multi-node

Dell Avamar Administration-SSP

© Copyright 2023 Dell Inc Page 9

Flexible Options include Avamar Virtual Edition (AVE), with a

Disk Storage Disk-to-disk backup offers speed, reliability, instant-

Data deduplication is one of the key features of an Avamar system. The

2This can be performed only if Avamar is integrated with a PowerProtect

Dell Avamar Administration-SSP

© Copyright 2023 Dell Inc Page 10

Variable Block Level

Variable length deduplication is a key feature in eliminating redundant

Variable length deduplication reduces backup time by only storing unique

With deduplication using fixed-length segments, even small changes to a

Avamar System Components

Avamar has three main system components. Optional components include

Dell Avamar Administration-SSP

© Copyright 2023 Dell Inc Page 11

Avamar Backup Clients Clients are any systems or servers with

Avamar Server Provides essential processes and services

Avamar Web User AUI and the Avamar Administrator are

Dell Avamar Administration-SSP

© Copyright 2023 Dell Inc Page 12

Important: Data Domain is now branded as PowerProtect

Dell Avamar Administration-SSP

© Copyright 2023 Dell Inc Page 13

Avamar Administrative and Management Interfaces

Important: Avamar Administrator is deprecated in favor of

Avamar enables central administration through remote access interfaces.